Southern Charm

Tonight I have a potluck dinner with all of the wives at the Commander's house! I signed up for a veggie.

As some of you know, the west is very different from the south... no drawls, sweet tea (they look at you funny if you ask for some), or southern hospitality - people just aren't nice! So I'm bringing some of my southern roots to tonight's dinner with one of my favorite veggie dishes: Zucchini and Squash! (It helps that I've been craving it!)

Here's the recipe:

3 sm. zucchini, washed

3 sm. summer squash, washed

2 lg. onions, halved and sliced thin

Salt and Pepper to taste

In small amount of oil in skillet, cook onion until transparent. Remove from pan.

In same oil, cook zucchini and squash (which have been sliced thin) until just crisp and tender. Combine with onions and serve.

Now I'm thirsty for some of Mom's sweet tea! It's good to be a GRITS!

My husband rocks!

Michael is amazing! I love it that when something bad comes his way he marches through it seeking to be cheerful, even when it's difficult.

Last weekend Michael came back into town (mostly to see my mom and Otto). :) It was such a joy, as always, to be with him. As the weekend progressed, and we bid adieu to Mom, Otto became the center of attention. Let me rephrase that - cleaning up after him became the focus.

After being tempted to grumble about this silly dog, who pees when and where it fancies him, Michael remembered a conversation he had with a good friend. His friend encouraged him to see this (Otto) as an opportunity to be patient and as a preview to fatherhood. Immediately Michael's view changed and he became more patient and started taking advantage of this opportunity to grow.

What wonderful advice! It's so easy to get upset at this little guy, but he's not doing it on purpose, just as the baby won't either! It's part of nature. And the faster we recognize that the better we will be at handling the stress of a little one, with the Lord's help!

Lord, thank you for my husband and for all of the wonderful family and friends You have given us to encourage us towards godliness!

Dinner and a movie!

I am so excited! Tonight I've got "girl" plans. Doing yoga and having dinner with Andrea S and then off to henderson for a movie on the lawn with Joanna R! What a night! It's always good to get girl time and these days I really need it. It's so easy for me to shut myself away in my house and not see anyone for weeks on end. But now that most of the wives are in the same boat as me, husbands being away and all, we all have more time to get together!

Lord, thank You for sending me friends!

Just one of those days

Do you ever have a day when you just don't feel awesome? I've been feeling pretty under-the-weather for the past 2 days. Yuck. My back hurts, my feet are swollen, Baby Girl is moving around so much it feels like my abdomen is bruised, I have a headache, and a stuffy nose. :( Just yucky.

This is all part of the pregnancy, I'm sure. I've definitely noticed my body change over the past week.

I probably need to just take some time to rest. It's funny how I always feel like I need to do that after I either visit or host friends and family for an extended period of time. It's not the company that wears me out... it's me! I do too much - and everyone tells me to take it slow, but I don't.

I'm feeling pregnant. And looking it. Had to buy a maternity swim suit top (my belly hangin' from a bikini is just not as attractive as it used to be!). Oh well. It was inevitable.

Sorry, this post is really random...

What a tease

After living in Vegas for 5 months I've gotten used to the weather - or lack there of. I've got this desert thing down pat. It's dry. Doesn't rain. And there tends to be a lot of wind.

Then the clouds rolled in, welcoming rain today.

My heart fluttered. A smile grew from ear to ear.

To no avail. The clouds stopped at the mountains. No rain for Vegas. Once again.

*sniff*
*sniff*

Until next time.

Name change...

Okay. Just spelling. Auto is now Otto, for all who were confused. After much discussion "Otto" was agreed upon. :)

My cutie. :)

Let me introduce the newest member of the Paulus clan:

Auto!

He's a 7 week old Boston Terrier and has so much energy! I can hardly keep up with him.

The Lord has been using this puppy to grow in me patience, optimism, gratefulness, and how to die to myself ('cause I really don't like waking up at the crack of dawn to let him out and clean up urine every 15 minutes...)

Auto has been such a blessing, especially considering that I did not want a dog. I can definitely see the Lord's hand working on me. The Lord completely opened the door for this little guy - actually He threw open the door, I just didn't want him to. One thing after the other confirmed the fact that I should get Auto. Arrrggh. I did not want a dog.

But now I'm thankful to have the little guy. He's been such a wonderful addition and a great companion.

One of my biggest concerns was housebreaking him while I'm pregnant. But God worked that out too! First of all he's been a very fast learner (much faster than the last dog I owned). I'm still not far enough into my pregnancy that I can't bend over easily. And I'm not too early in my pregnancy that I can't handle the smell of urine.

The Lord is good and knows what I need.

By the way, Michael completely tricked me into getting Auto.

After the Lord threw open all of the doors to confirm that we should get him (I was still hoping He would close one) I woke up with an anxiousness that this isn't the right time to get a dog. Usually, Michael would tell me not to waste my time (it took about an hour and a half to get to the lady's house - one way) and the lady's time. Instead, he told me I should still go and check it out.

Michael knows me too well. He knew I would immediately fall in love with the puppy and take him home without a second thought. And I did.

So here I am. By myself. Plus a dog.

My weekend

This past weekend I had the privilege of having my mom, Aunt Lynn and cousin Hannah in town. We had a blast! I definitely needed the girl time. :)

My quilt!

We stayed in our PJs all day! I loved it!


Mom's quilt... sort of. Still trying to figure out how it needs to be laid out.



Dinner at my favorite restaurant: PF Chang's!!


Mom, Aunt Lynn, Hannah, and I




Waiting for the show to start. We saw La Reve at the Wynn! I totally recommend it! Two thumbs up!

My Mom is coming!

She'll be here in a little over 2 hours!!! Yeah! I'm trying to get my last minute stuff done... you know... cleaning bathrooms, vacuuming, dusting. All the things that should have been done last week. :)

I'm so excited!

The Monday Mad Dash

As usual, I'm in a glorious sleep dreaming of gum drops and sugar fairies when I hear it. The TRASH MAN! I've forgotten (again) to put my weekend trash can out to be taken away to trash heaven.

Then, the familiar questions start:

- Is he going around the corner, or did he already pass my house?

- Did I throw anything away that will rot if I don't make it?

- How much trash do I actually have?

- Can this wait till Thursday? I need my beauty sleep.

No, I need to see if I have time to get my overflowing, rotting trash out to the curb in time to be taken away. So... Where are my clothes? Obviously this is a Monday morning pattern. I need "Trash Day clothes". Like a superman suit that I can quickly change into.

Quick! Where are my pants from last night? I know I threw them over in this corner with all of my other disheveled clothes... Aah! Who's that in the mirror???? Oh, just my "sleep" hair. Grab a hat.

Faster! Did I grab all of the trash from around the house? Did I clean out my fridge? Oops. I forgot about that... Hm mm. That old yogurt can wait another week (hold on, I said that the last two weeks... maybe I should run it out to the can...)

I made it! With time to spare! Yes! Now, do I start my day or finish my sleep? Rats. Start my day wins...

And therein ends my Monday Mad Dash...

Happy Mother's Day!!!!

This weekend rocks... Like my husband!

Why my husband rocks (!):

Yesterday, I received one of the best presents ever... my awesome Husband on my front stoop with gorgeous flowers in hand!!! I had talked to him throughout the day and he said he had been flying and then was off to the bike shop to replace some flat tires. Unbeknown st to me he was really on his way to Vegas to surprise me for the weekend! I sure do love him! I couldn't have wished for a better present!

Honestly, part of me was hoping that he would have flowers delivered for mother's day, but it seemed like a long shot so I threw it aside. But Michael went above and beyond my expectations!!!! Not only did I get some of the prettiest flowers that he has ever given me but I got HIM for the weekend! Yeah! I got a hot date! No flying solo this weekend... :)

On top of all of this, on short notice I was able to book an appointment with an ultrasound technician so we both could find out what we're having...

a GIRL!!!!!!

We are very excited with this news! I was pretty bummed that Michael wasn't going to be able to be with me at my Dr. appointment on Wednesday (but was thankful that Mom could at least share the excitement with me). You can imagine what a blessing it was to have my hubby there! This was the first and possibly only time Michael has been able to be a part of this process - aside from hopefully being there when this little one makes an appearance!

Thank you for all of your prayers!

Our little GIRL!!!!

Her legs were above her head most of the time... our acrobat. :)

New glasses and belly pics!

Maternity Pants! 19 weeks...

You're supposed to be able to see my toes. But, they disappeared. My doctor told me not to worry and that they would reappear in 5 or 6 months...

Please let me know what you honestly think of these glasses. I need to know if they're dorky, not right for me, or just plain old ugly.

My husband rocks! ~ Friday ~

Because even though his truck was stolen, Michael knew that the Lord is in control of his life. Though it was a hard pill to swallow (the fact that his awesome truck is now in Mexico) Michael sought to be cheerful, even joking about his contribution to the Mexican mafia.

I love my husband.