Don't say it Mommy...

I haven't blogged in so long. Things just got to crazy after London. I found out I was pregnant in August. We sold our house and moved to Denver in October. Were living with Zack's parents until we finally bought and closed on our house in Highlands Ranch in November. I am having a boy. I have 6 1/2 weeks to go and can't wait. I'm ready to have my body back!

For anyone that doesn't know, Natalie is a book worm. She loves to read her books before naps and bedtime. Whenever I can't find her, its generally because she is in a room quietly flipping through and stacking books. When asked on any typical day what she would like to do, 80% of the time she says "Go to Barnes & Noble". This may be part my fault considering from the time she was 8 months old we have frequented them on a weekly basis.

Recently story time before bed has turned a bit sour. She is insisting on reading the books to me (even though she can't read) and turning the pages. Sometimes its cute, except when she looks at pages and sits there because she can't remember what that page is about. If I start to say something she stops, closes the book and tells me "Mommy don't say it, don't say that" and then keeps repeating it. She also likes to con me in to 10 stories and if I say no, she throws a fit. Usually she asks during the middle of another story so I can't finish until I give in.

Tonight I videotaped her reading Snow White. The princess stories are definitely the easiest ones to get through as she knows them so well.






Here is another of her reading me the classic Goodnight Moon.

Last of London (Day 3 & 4)

Zack and I began experiencing huge sleep issues within the first night of staying in London. We would go to bed at like 11 from being so exhausted walking all over, and then would wake up wide awake at like 1:30am. It was awful. The only hope we had of finally going back to sleep would be taking Unisom's and then waiting till they fully kicked in. On Friday night it was so bad we actually watched a movie and finally fell asleep at like 3:30am. It sucked because come Saturday morning we couldn't get up till like 10am. We had decided to go to Westminster to see the Abbey, Big Ben, and the House of Parliament. By the time we got there around 12 it was so packed with crazy tour groups it took 10 minutes just to get out of the subway and cross a street. I couldn't handle it so we snapped a shot and headed out.

I didn't know where to go at this point but I knew Buckingham Palace was somewhere in the vicinity. As soon as we saw the gardens I knew we were in the right area. The only problem was that the crowds were following too. It was hard to get in front of the Palace so we snapped another quick shot and made a run for it.

We ended up wandering down a major shopping mecca where we saw the famous Harrods. It was fun but still too many tourists. Pretty soon we were back in South Kensington at the Victoria & Albert museum. I really wanted to go so we headed in. But about 5 minutes into it, I just couldn't keep walking. We were trashed. So we rode the train home and passed out agin for another nap. Later that evening we wanted to go out but our legs and feet were acting like they were going on strike. We needed to get dinner so we knew we had to go out. We decided to ride the train to this area called Picadilly Circus which is in the Soho district. It was a super cool area and had a much younger vibe. Lots of clubs and bars along with tons of shopping. Below is Zack in front of some of the cool streets we walked.

We hung out at a cool bar for a bit just couldn't get our energy back so we called it a night and headed back home. On our last day (which was Sunday) we got up early so we could go back to Westminster and hopefully avoid crowds. It worked. The only problem was that because it was Sunday we couldn't go inside the Abbey as it was closed for services.

House of Parliament. Breathtaking!

Westminster Abbey, equally breathtaking.

The right one below is of me in front of Big Ben...most people think its the clock but Big Ben is actually the bell inside.

We walked across a bridge to see the view from the other side. Then walked across another bridge that was closer to Whitehall Palace. Shown below. Can the buildings get any cooler. The whole city blew me away. I would move there in a heartbeat if Zack ever got work there. After hanging out a bit we rode the tube back to our fav neighborhood Kensington, had lunch, got lost, and then slept a bit on the ground at Kensington Park.

We definitely needed more time as we trashed ourselves in those 4 days but it was worth it. On Monday we flew home and thankfully had a day flight. 8 hours on a plane sucks, but its better then a night flight if you know you can't sleep. Our flight once again routed to Washington and then back to NYC. Our luggage got last at DC so it didn't make it to NY. This sucked because we had to put the same gross clothes on the next day for our flight from NY to home. Oh well. What's a good trip without some bumps. (In our case a lot of them.)

More on London

On Day 2 in London we knew we were going to have to tackle the underground in order for us to be able to really get around to see everything. Looking at the tube map I had no idea how the trains connected so I chose the line that seemed like it would takes us in the general direction we wanted to go. It dumped us off by the river. As we walked along the Thames we saw The Tower Bridge. I knew The Tower was near the Tower Bridge and I definitely wanted to go there so we headed towards it.

You can see Tower Bridge in the back of our photo below. It was like a dream for me. I couldn't believe I was in London. At that moment it hit me. After reading so much history on the city I was finally there.

Then as we were about to cross Tower Bridge I saw The Tower. Its directly behind us in the below photo. I kept thinking, this is where Henry VIII once was and where Anne's head was chopped off.

It was early so the sun was in a bad spot for pics. This was the best shot we got of Tower Bridge. It doesn't do it justice. It was fun to walk across.

And below is the The Tower entrance. I was in complete awe of this place. Just to think of how it was here a thousand years ago. (On a gory note they had a place under the bridge where they said all the dead bodies dropped in the Thames would wash up, lovely.)

Walking in...drum roll please.

I couldn't get over the doorways. I loved the arches and super old wood doors.

The staircases were tiny, steep and super narrow. Its amazing how much they would let you explore. We even got to walk through some of the dungeon torture chambers where they had examples of devices like the Rack. It gives me the chills when I think of all the torture devices and how many were tortured over religious beliefs/differences.

Most of the outer walls are the chambers where prisoners were held...the middle White Tower is where the kings generally would be when they were there. (Zack is standing in front of it below.) Inside was a huge Henry VIII exhibit where they showed real weapons and armour of his. It would have been better to see it all except by then it was packed and there were way to many smelly foreigner's.

Our feet were killing by the time we left so we went back to our hotel to sleep.

After napping for like 2 hours we got ready and headed back out. We weren't in the mood to hit up more tourist spots so we headed to South Kensington to walk around a bit. If I ever go again Kensington is where I would stay. There were tons of museums like the one Zack is standing in front of above. The buildings in London are so beautiful you can walk forever and never get bored. We ended up at Kensington Gardens which is a huge park with English gardens and walkways all over. Kensington Palace was closed on the inside but we did walk along the grounds to get a view of it.

We ate at 2 totally authentic Italian restaurants. The owners and waiters were all Italian with heavy accents and the menu's were practically written in Italian with simple English explanations. Another thing we noticed, they don't do American sizing. Dishes are served small and with just enough to make you full, not stuffed. The only problem, we ordered Tiramisu and they thought we both wanted one.

Our London Adventure with a little NYC

Where to begin. As most people know ,Zack travels a lot for his work and so he earns lots of miles and free flights. The only problem is that they are not usually with the same carriers. When we decided to go to London for our 5 year anniversary we wanted to use our free flights to get us to NYC. I used our free American Airlines ticket and Zack used his United. Zack was due to arrive in NYC just over an hour before me. He was to wait until I arrived and then we would head to my sisters apartment. After that we had a night planned of drinks and dinner in the city, and were to meet up with Zack's brother Gardner who lives there as well. We left Tuesday, July 7th. I reached my connection in Chicago and was informed that we were going to try and leave asap in order to avoid thunderstorms brewing in NYC. Not what I wanted to hear. We made it to the NY area and the airport was shut down because of the weather which had caused extreme delays and traffic jams at the airport. We circled in holding status for sometime before the pilot came on and said we needed fuel and were being routed to Pittsburgh, PA. We landed in PA about the same time I was to land in NYC. I called Zack to let him know since he had already been waiting for me. He ended up grabbing a taxi to head to my sisters. Meanwhile I sat on the airplane for another hour and a half before we took off to go back to NY. By the time I landed it was 6:00pm NY time and I had been at the airport in SLC at 4:30am. I was not happy thinking that in another 24 hours I would be on another 7 hour flight to London.

Arriving at my sisters (where Zack's brother Gardner was already) we were starving and headed off to the city for fun. It was a bit hard to cope since Zack and I were so tired so we called it an early night. The next morning we got up and headed to Central Park for some fun and relaxation with my sister Denise.

Below: Zack and Denise

We booked an overnight flight to London. It was to leave NYC at 7:30pm, route to Washington and then officially leave to London at 9:30pm arriving in at 9:30am London time. (They are a 5 hour time difference from NY and 7 hours from SLC.) We had high hopes to sleep. We brought Unisoms and Neck pillows to help us. About 2 hours into the flight we took our drugs and were feeling real tired. After about 5 minutes of squiriming around with my legs and neck to try and find a comfy position I realized I was screwed. The flight was packed and I didn't realize the difference between leg room in economy vs economy plus or business class. Its major. My knees were already touching the seat in front of me...and once everyone laid the seats back they no longer fit. I had to angle them to the side. My other problem was a family with 2 kids next to me. They laid one kid on the ground to sleep and the dad who sat next to me, took up part of my leg room so as to make room for his kid on the floor. I tossed all night. About 3 hours into the flight I made my way to the restroom to sit on the toilet and cry. Tears of utter helplessness as I realized this was going to be my official flight to hell. I soon regained composure and headed back to my torture seat where I endured the rest of my flight in despair.

I had booked our hotel right next to Paddington Station (which is the main train hub in London). We arrived at the hotel just before 11 and were able to check in early. The minute we shut our room door, we passed out for 3 hours at which point I forced myself to rise and get ready. I mean I didn't want to waste a whole day in London sleeping even though my body did!

So we had no agenda. I knew of a few things I had to see but I wanted to just do what Zack and I do best, walk the streets. Its the best way to find cool places and really see the city. I knew we were near Hyde Park/Kensington Gardens so I thought that is where we would walk to. We were still pretty tired when we reached the park so we bought espresso shots and decided to sit down in these comfy chairs next to a pond.

5 minutes into sitting down a man camed over and asked for 3 pounds (almost 5 US dollars) for sitting in the park chairs. At first I thought it was a joke, but he had this little machine and so we had to pay. Oops. We weren't going to make that misake again.

After hanging around the park for a bit, these rain clouds began to look pretty bad. We hadn't ventured to learn the subway (underground) yet, and we didn't want to get stuck in a bad rainstorm walking home. We decided to head back to our hotel using a different street so as to see more. We knew the general direction. It just so happened to be in the Knotting Hill neighborhood which was gorgeous. Below are some photos.

These phone booths are everywhere. And look, the cars are on the wrong side. Its actually like that everywhere. When you pass people on stairs, etc. you stand to the left not right. Through me off for awhile.

After we made it back to our street we headed to an English pub to try out traditional Fish and Chips which Londoners serve with mushy peas. They have these old fashioned pubs everywhere and are huge into apple-cider beers.

This concludes Day 1 in London. I will post the other days later on as I have run out of time to post and write.

Natalie and Pinkie

Natalie has been totally getting into all the Disney movies. Her favorite by far is Cinderella. She will actually sit through the whole movie. But she does request Peter Pan and Sleeping Beauty everyday as well. Today she wanted to dress up and when I put the Disney songs on she began dancing with her stuffed monkey Pinkie.

And just so you can all see, I cut some serious bangs for my standards..see below

I see London, I see France, I see....

I am a huge fan of old English History. Who would have thought. I never enjoyed my history classes in school on America (which is sad). However, after the first book I read about King Henry VIII I knew I was hooked with that era. I have read so much about the Tudors, the Plantagenets and other various people of interest. I am fascinated not only with the people but the rise and fall of the catholic church in England as well as the beginnings of Luthernism and Protestantism.

All in all I have developed a case of must seeitis. (I must see this place or else...) And so after a month or two of convincing Zack that London was our it destination, he conceded. I have never been so exited to go anywhere. I cannot wait to visit the Tower and see so much history. Just to give Zack a taste of some of what I have read, we are watching the Tudors together. (Showtime series)

Why you may ask am I blogging about this right now...well I just got my passport in the mail today. Ahhh, its really happening. The hotel is booked, our flights are purchased and we leave the day before our 5 year anniversary, July 7th to embark on this journey. Hopefully I will not fall in love so much that I refuse to come back.

Summertime Food!!!

There is nothing better in the wintertime to me then having a lot of soup. I love to make so many different kinds...but once summer rolls around its all about salads and especially pasta salads for me. I found this one recently that I absolutely love. I just have to share it. For anyone looking to cut back on meat (and you should be) this entree is the perfect replacement. Beans are so much better at giving you protein since they are easier to digest then meat. So here it is for you to try:


Whole Wheat Pasta w/Ricotta & Vegetables:

8 ounces of whole wheat penne
2 1/2 cups of broccoli florets
1 1/2 cups of fresh or frozen beans cut into 1 inch pieces

Cook the pasta and the last 3 minutes of boiling add the green beans and broccoli. Drain and combine with ricotta mixture, 2 large tomatoes chopped, 1 can of rinsed and drained Kidney Beans, and 1/4 cup of grated parm cheese.

Ricotta Mixture:

1 1/4 cup of Ricotta
1/3 cup of snipped fresh basil (must be fresh)
1 tsp of dried Thyme
4 tbsp of balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp of Olive oil
1 garlic clove minced
1/2 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp of pepper


Then just serve with Corn on the Cob or Bread with Balsamic/Olive Oil to dip in.

Michael Pollan is an amazing author of "The Omnivore's Dilemma" and "In Defense of Food". He recommends at least one meat free day like meat free Monday that not only will benefit you but our environment. You'd be suprised the impact all the animals raised for meat have on our planet.

I'm getting off my soap box now so you can go and enjoy dinner.