I can be FeRtiLe too!! :)

(Can you tell I've felt left out:) Well, it's a true story, I am pregnant. I've gotten some questions so I'll address those now. By the way, this picture was taken before I was pregnant in AZ, but it was the first time I had seen such a sign, and I desperately love good parking, so we decided to have babies.

I took the preggo test the morning that I was to fly out to NY. Trav had been gone a week already, and I knew if I took it earlier I would never last til Monday to tell him in person!

Ok, the ball. Whenever Trav and I ended up in the toy section of a store he would locate the balls, toss them around, and longingly tell me that all he wanted was a kid to play ball with. How do you not fall in love with that?! One time in WalMart, he became particularly attached to shown ball, so I secretly went back later and purchased it. It's been stowed away beneath old ballet costumes in my cedar chest for months, waiting for this moment. I put the test and a card inside the ball and dressed all that up in a gift bag. As a decoy, I first gave him a gift bag with a shirt I had bought him while he was gone, then handed him the real surprise. He was SO excited about the BALL, it took him a minute to even realize there was something inside. His reaction was all I had ever hoped for. I am a lucky girl.

I don't know that I've ever seen a pregnancy test in a zip lock bag before in all the cute pictures of my friends. Well, what do ya expect from me?! :) I love that in the background you see mounds of boxes since it was the first night in our new house. Lots o' changes in our lives! I have been feeling great (no nausea), am due Feb. 28 (darn, it's not a leap year), and crave carbs like it's nobody's business! (see donut post below :) Thanks for everyone's positive comments! (I guess the scary ones come later) haha

Tour of our house!

Youth Conference!

Does this scene look familiar to any of you? :) Trav has decided that we get asked to chaperone youth dances to remind us to be grateful that we aren't 15 anymore! Haha. He makes a good point. Our stake had a two day youth conference and I was asked to chaperone the dance last night so of course Trav got dragged along too. He's such a good sport!

He even danced with me to one of my favorite Brad Paisley songs, She's Everything. Awww. He even knew that it was a Brad Paisley song when I quized him! I was impressed. This is a guy that hated country before we started dating.

We had fun talking with the leaders from other wards. I'm sure Bron is thinking, "Shoot, now I'm going to be on her stinkin' blog!" =) He was hilarious while dancing the "Cha Cha Slide", making up a shimmy type move for the Cha Cha. And yes, I know what you're thinking, we also joined in for Cotton Eye Joe and the Electric Slide. Can't resist Mormon line dances!

I was crackin' up watching this kid! Near the end of the dance he would go casually look at the snack table, glance around, then stuff his pockets with granola bars and chips. His front and back pockets were bulging when it was time to go! I wonder what's in his backpack....

Ode to a donut!

Does anyone else out there love donuts as much as I do?I have fond memories of my dad going to Basha's and getting a dozen donuts on Saturday morning to kick start us into our weekend chores. What a loving father! This morning I woke up and told Trav that we needed to think quick of a special occasion because I wanted donuts for breakfast! That is usually just a birthday treat. We didn't come up with much more than: it rained yesterday, the car needs gas, and I have brown eyes. Hmm, didn't stop us! Off we drove to dunkin' donuts. Can you believe they didn't have any maple!!! Sad day for us. At least there were Boston Cream left. We agonized over what to fill our "dozen quota" with, then popped over to the Shaw's to have them share in our guilt. I don't think I've ever started a diet that didn't end with a donut! Sigh. If you're thinking, "this girl must have a lot of free time to be posting about a freakin' donut!", well you are absolutely right!! I actually just finished a texting conversation with my sister, Shelley, that she needed to post more about random things cuz all I ever get from her is a once a week post about something really cool. I told her she needed to be more annoying like me and start sharing her thoughts with the world! She said the most exciting thing that happened to her that day was Lane (her two year old) lost his green pants at the mall. That may not sound interesting to you, but those green pants were magical! They calmed him instantly when nothing else would. They were his security blanket. All he's left with is his red shirt that has similar powers. Also a sad day! I guess by now, those that read my ramblings, know that I ramble a lot and that is all. Tune in next time for Ode to terrible Buffalo roads!

Gross!!

"What's a cadaver?" my brother wanted to know Sunday night. Trav explained that it's a dead body donated to science that they dissect in their Gross Anatomy Lab (Someone had that right when they were naming the class, haha) Well, my teenage brother is not very hard to disgust, but I think Trav succeeded. I personally couldn't wait to go see it. Doesn't seem to gel with my personality, I know, but nonetheless they let me come check it out Monday night during open lab. I got all gussied up in my scrubs and made Trav take a "before" picture, sure that I wasn't going to come out the same person.

Trav also got to pose :) Unfortunately they don't allow cameras inside, so I'll try to paint a picture! Well, the smell wasn't too bad because there were only a few bodies out. Everything seemed very sterile. It's basically a huge room filled with metal tables. The body lies on the table and is covered with a metal top that swings down and locks underneath. Ryan and Doug were studying theirs so we went to take a looksie. The face, hands, and feet were covered because I guess seeing those parts makes the body more "human". It was on it's stomach, so they peeled back the skin, fat layer, and various muscles to show what they've been doing! Yeah, kinda gross. But they had me put on gloves and pull at the skin to feel how thick it was, and after a while, I got used to the idea of touching it. Trav took me to his table and showed me his body. The man was thicker and I even took a peek at his face! Very weird, but if you've ever seen a BodyWorlds exhibit, that's kind of what it's like. It almost doesn't seem real. The skin is gray and when you touch or squeeze the limbs, they are very stiff. Trav said that a few days ago the TA came around with a saw and just hacked off an arm and gave it back to them. I guess they needed it separated to do their dissection. He said you could hear when he got to the bone. Yeeeesh! I couldn't have handled that!! Well, I stuck around for a while and figured I had seen everything there was to see. I do want to come back once they've dissected a little more and see organs and stuff. Rach said she would come too! Come on Megan, you know you want to! I will admit that while we were out with the gang eating wings later that night, I couldn't quite get the images out of my brain. Not very appetizing when you're gnawing on skin and meat on the bone. Well, no nightmare so far! I guess it wasn't so gross after all!:)

Grrrrrrr!

Let's play a game! Take a look at my license and see if you can find the error! (If you're confused about the pieces of paper that say UB School of Dental Medicine, that's not the error, I was just covering up numbers and stuff with a sticky note... keep looking!) That's right, apparently the "h" in my name is no longer necessary. Just call me Step -anie! I've had this thing for over a month and never noticed. But the library lady did and told me she would still give me a library card (how nice) but I should probably get that taken care of. Maybe if I didn't spend close to two hours standing in line in a smelly, run-down hole in the wall, to get the blasted piece of plastic I wouldn't be so testy! Grrrrr!

So it's Tuesday afternoon and I still haven't heard back from the company about my fingerprints and when I can start working, so I give them a ring and they say, "Sorry, we haven't heard anything, keep waiting". Not 15 min. later I get a call from the same lady that says, "Oh, actually we got an email that something went wrong with the prints and you'll need to go do it again". I was less than pleasant. So a week after doing them for the first time, I get to drive into "one-way street downtown", pay for parking, and let Joe the fingerprint guy try again. And then wait several more days to see if they can't process those successfully. And here I was thinking I'd actually get to start work by tomorrow. Naive Stephanie strikes again. Grrrrr!

Well since I'm on a roll, I may as well add that the car was acting funny today so I had the sense to check the oil and find it is seriously below the "L". I call around to check prices and find that Sonic Delta is only $25 and they have no one in so I can come right down and get it done in 15 min. Perfect! And it's right next to Wegman's so I can do my grocery shopping right after. I pull up and they tell me, "Sorry, three cars just pulled in and it will be at least 45 min. before they can even see me". Figures. No worries, I'm not cranky. Grrrrr!

I pray for everyone's sake's that I get working soon so I don't have as much free time and therefore you won't hear from me as often! Sorry for the perpetual posting! Anyone that knows me, knows that I wear my emotions on my sleeve and unfortunately the blogging world is suffering. :(

Fun on the Farm!

"Old MacBriste had a farm, Ee i Ee i O!" It's true, Briste grew up on a farm and we got to go check it out on Satuday! Her parents work the farm part of the year and go relax in Arizona the other part of the year. It's only about 40min. south of where we live, by a town called Springville. This first pic is a small sample of the miles and acres that her parents own. I seriously felt like I had stepped into a storybook. We were first treated to an amazing lunch of smoked chicken, fresh corn on the cob, deviled eggs, salad, and a cheesy pineapple casserole. I know that last dish sounds less than appetizing, but it was way yummy. I got the recipe so my fam can try it over the holidays! Oh, and I am ready to turn carnivore if we can buy one of those smoker things. Meat has suddenly become creme brulee for me!

They had a driving range just across from their house so we went and hit some balls after lunch.

Trav brought his clubs and was doing a good job of pegging the ball-picker-upper-machine as Dave drove it around collecting balls.

Check out my form! I'm a natural... not! I've only done this once before as a teenager and couldn't even hit the ball. Trav showed me what to do but I couldn't stop treating the club like a softball bat. It's hard! Bend your knees, pull back (but keep that arm straight!!), never look away from the ball, and swing down exactly where that little ball is. What-ever!! I gave it my best and can you believe I was SORE the next day?! Who knew?!

Now this is more up my alley! I guess when Briste and Dave bring friends to the farm, the guys go shooting and the girls go into town to the shops. Not this time! Considering my neurotic personality, you wouldn't think I'd like guns, but I was raised my crazies with an arsonal in their collection. My cousin was actually detained at the airport for forever when he forgot to take his handgun out of his backpack before sending it through security. Oops.

What was really cool, was the Lindmans knew a guy with a clay pigeon machine. Those are fun to shoot because you see right away if you got a piece of it! We were also there with Kristin and Dave Majerone who were really fun! Now, I hope no one takes offense, but I thought the funniest part was hearing that Kristin (or was it Briste?) thought the clay pigeon would fly out looking like a real pigeon! Haha, that was
great!

Trav said the last time he shot at clay pigeons was at a scout outing when he was too little to really even hold the gun. (Can you imagine it? Haha)Well, he got up and blew out almost all of the first round he shot. What a pro! I think he was made to be apart of the Lindblom clan.

Well, now Trav and I would love to go get some guns. He would like a shotgun, I would like a handgun. Anyone scared reading this? Yeah, I would be too! Prob won't happen anytime soon, just wishin' :)

Here's crazy Dave with a gun in each hand! You guessed it, he didn't hit a thing. :) The guys also tried shooting from the hip. Now that, they were a little more successful with! We had to forgo the hot tub so we could get back into town in time to get the house ready for a party. Thanks Lindman's (and Waterman's) for a really great day on the farm!

Friday night was Megan's birthday so on Saturday night we invited a few people over to celebrate! I think we did a good job of surprising her!

What you are seeing here is Travis's famous carrot cake! I've heard about it for years and it finally made it's debut. It was delicious (especially since it had no raisins or nuts in it :)

Had to get a group shot! We played the DVD version of Family Feud (the girls wiped the floor with the guys!), Catch Phrase (the guys may have won that one) and some Mafia. Thanks for turning 25 Megan! We had a blast!

It took me til I was 25, but I finally.....

Mowed a Lawn! :)

Ok, lame post, I know, but I'm actually really proud of myself! Trav had mentioned earlier in the week that he needed to mow that lawn and I felt bad because I never help with that kind of stuff. So he left for school this morning and I decided I would secretly do it. I apprehesively approached the lawnmower and was relieved to find instructions on the handle. (good thing or else I was going to have to google "how to start a lawnmower" Sad) Pull out the knob thing, press down the handle, pull the cord, then push down the knob thing. Well, all was good til I pulled the cord. Nothing happened. So I remember seeing my dad really yanking on the thing to get it going. I checked around to see if anyone was watching and started pullin' with all I had. It worked!

I started making my rows and had the thought that this is kinda like vacuuming, but with heavy machinery! Unfortunately it didn't have a bag, so grass was flyin' everywhere. :(

The front yard isn't much to look at because it was all weeds when we got here and Trav has sprayed them a couple times, but then maybe a little too much, because the grass isn't growing either. Hmmm.

Check it out! I even got a blister! Sorry it's fuzzy(I know you wanted to see the grossness in clarity) So all in all I would say it was a memorable experience. Someone that sees this needs to tell my dad because I think he would be proud of me! I grew up with a dad and four brothers who took care of the lawn so I was never given the divine opportunity! I hope our neighbors that saw me don't think bad things of Trav.

This is random, but since this is a post about firsts..... Briste came over Sunday night and brought a YELLOW watermelon! I actually thought she was playing a joke on us. In 25 years I've never even heard of a yellow watermelon. So here it is for those of you who were naive like me. It was really tasty! You think you're eating pineapple, but it tastes like a watermelon! Novel!

I FINALLY GOT A JOB!!!

Halleluljah and all that other stuff!! I FINALLY GOT A JOB! I had an interview at the mortgage center of HSBC today and got a call a couple hours later saying that I got the job! I did the happy dance for at least an hour. (That thing Steve Carrell does on Evan Almighty!haha) I guess I have to go downtown to their corporate center tomorrow to be finger printed and it takes a few days to process. When that's done I can start working! Hopefully they don't find out about my sketchy background. A risk I'll have to take I guess. :) So what does my job entail, you ask? Not too sure myself. They lady explained it, but used a bunch of bank jargon and I just nodded my head. My official title is a Mortgage Processor. Hopefully they train well. Who cares.... I got a job!!!

2008 National Buffalo Wing Festival!

Saturday night we went with our friends, Megan and Ryan, to the Buffalo National Wing Festival. Megan writes for the Buffalo Newspaper so she got us in free (cha ching!) and we got to meet some interesting people that she interviewed. It was in the baseball stadium that the Bisons play in and was filled with all sorts of wing vendors. Trav was in 7th heaven!

It wasn't cheap to buy all the wings ($2 for 3 wings!!) but we got to try out Original Anchor Bar, Native New Yorker, Wing Street, Buffalo Wild Wings, Pesci's, Legend Larry's, and a few others. I personally loved the Anchor Bar, but I also filled up on pizza, smoothies, and chocolate cake. Trav mostly stuck to the wings .

I don't know why we never grabbed some from this place, cuz Trav sure liked to say it a lot =)

It only took me five shots to get a good angle of this wing hat, but it was worth it with her licking her fingers! Trav and Ryan were trying to pretend they didn't know me while I shamelessly snapped pics of a total stranger.

I'm afraid to say we contributed to the many overflowing trash cans looking like this.

Hot Honey, Medium, Coconut, BBQ, Sweet and Sour.... we tried them all!



They had a stage set up with events going on such as Miss Buffalo Wing. Yes, it was a beauty contest based on your knowledge of wings. The winner gets to go on to the Miss New York pageant. Megan and I will be studying up to compete for next year!! Next, they filled a kiddie pool with multiple gallons of blue cheese, then dumped over a hundred wings into it. Two guys and a girl put on goggles and bobbed for wings for three minutes. The winner was some guy who works on Wall Street and goes by "Tornado". What a cool guy. I had manuvered my way through the crowd to get a better shot while I took video. Turns out, this was not a good move, because right after Tornado is announced the winner, he takes his goggles off and throws them into the crowd..... that's right, straight at me. I felt like I was on some Seinfeld episode as time went into slow motion and I could feel splatters of blue cheese flying all over me. They fell at me feet and I suddenly realized I was alone as everyone else had spread out and now formed a circle around me. So what's a girl to do, but pick up the offending eye piece and twirl it around her head, covering as many people as possible. Just an impulse :) As I made my way throught the crowd, people were actually stopping me to take my picture! What a crazy city this is!

Trav is trying to show the miniscule bit of dressing on his hand. Pobracito :)

Next up was the amateur wing eating contest. This guy named Anthony, in the red, was going at it. His family was all around us screaming their heads off. When he was done he pulled up his shirt and showed off his fat-storage skills. Reminded me a bit of the Truffle Shuffle from Goonies. Haha

I'll admit I had America's obesity statistics in back of my head while witnessing this event.

Well, we held our ground and were right in front for the National Wing Eating Contest. This is what the crowd looked like behind us. Just like the National Hot Dog Contest is in NY,NY on July 4, the Wing Contest is every year in Buffalo

Sonya "Black Widow" Thomas is in the pink hat. She got fifth at Nathan's this past year, eating 34 hot dogs. She currently holds the record for eating 11 lbs of cheesecake in 9 minutes and many other gut wrenching feats. She is 105 lbs. Badland's Booker is next to her, also a top-ranked competitive eater. I guess he's a rapper too or something. Well, Sonya won, eating over 5 lbs of wings, which was 173 wings in 12 minutes. It was something to watch for sure. Yum!

Because Megan got to interview Sonya, we got a picture with her!

Badland got second place. We had a ton of fun. Thanks Megan and Ryan for a great night! I say we make it tradition :)