Why 30 is Not the New 20 and Creating Identity Capital

Today a friend shared this enlightening TED Talk on Facebook. Since I'm fairly sure my main audience is composed mostly of 20-something-year-olds, I thought this would be a valuable video.

If you aren't interested in watching, I'll add my thoughts on creating identity capital as she mentions. Meg Jay states that the 20's are not developmental downtime; they're the developmental sweet spot for defining our futures. 

I agree that now is the time to make choices that contribute to future success and happiness. I just graduated from college. I got married two years ago. I imagine my family of procreation will take off in the next few years. 

Admittedly, I don't have major long-term occupational plans for financial reasons. However, I've always had the dream of owning and operating a children's theater designed to give individuals a place to grow without pushing their moral standards. I know that in order to do this I need to build my credentials and learn about running an organization (I would like it to be non-profit). Now is the time to prepare for that, I believe. 

Jay also states "the brain caps off its second and last growth spurt in your twenties as it re-wires itself for adulthood, which means whatever it is you want to change about yourself, now is the time to change it." 

This seems pretty crucial in my opinion. I try to be intentional about how I live; I'm always setting goals and making checklists. I want to make a personality bucket list, so to speak. I did this as an early teenager. I had a list of qualities I wanted in a husband some day, but I knew we wouldn't be compatible if I lacked a lot of those qualities. I worked hard to become the kind of person I wanted to marry, and then I got married and realized I wasn't even close, haha. 

Well, I am off to make a list of the characteristics I'd like to have ten years from now (it includes rock-hard abdominal muscles). <-- Just kidding. :)

See you!

An Overdue Review; I.e., Fireworks, Canada, and Costa Rica

I had an amazing summer. With that new diploma (no school), boxes packed for Texas, and two weeks notice underway, Jeff and I could truly relax. PS - the video is totally worth watching. I love making them and they are usually kinda cute, if I can say that about my own projects. PS PS - do what you want, but it's better in HD. xo

Claire's in-laws are grand adventurers.

Jeff's in-laws are America (and Lego) lovers.

Our friends are Canadian
(well, one of our friends is Canadian).

Brett and Julie

Mike and Ally

Stunningly endless sky-I just kept taking pictures

Highlight of the trip

Waterton, Alberta

Waterton is so gorgeous.

Jeff looks great with a beard and a baby.

Smarties

This place is a-maazing. If you're not into hipster-looking hot dogs, you can get FALAFEL! Heaven.

Lake McDonald

I hope those are enough pictures. ;)

All of these vacations became favorite vacations. Stay tuned because I am tackling a project you might be interested in. Another cryptic teaser could be "how to save a butt-load of money and maximize efficiency." I will leave you with that... 

Have a great day!

Week 11 Update

Today I am 11 weeks and 6 days pregnant. I have my first real doctor's appointment set finally and I have our first ultrasound early next week! Yay! Hopefully there is actually a baby in there since--guess what--it leaked that I'm pregnant among my church friends here! Haha, all these people suddenly know I'm pregnant and there really was not anything I could do to prevent it. That's fun though. :) I like people knowing, I guess. I also like that my baby is supposedly two inches long!

In fact, baby should look pretty much like this:

I am starting to show. I definitely didn't think I would for several more weeks. I have a bulge-y lower abdomen that cannot be contained. Wow.

I got a lot sicker this week. I've thrown up almost every day and then I continue to feel nauseous for the rest of the day. Oh well. 

Here's the questionnaire for this week:

How far along? 11 weeks ( and 6 days)
Baby is: The size of a fig, lime, or lemon (of the two-inch-long variety)
Total weight gain/loss? My weight has been fluctuating in a downward fashion. 
Maternity clothes? No, but I'm wearing leggings and maxi skirts a lot these days.
Stretch marks? No.
Sleep? Great.
Best moment this week? Eating a whole box of Mike and Ike's... (Oh, gosh.)
Miss Anything? Not this week. :)
Movement? No
Food cravings? Shamefully, one day this week, my husband and I shared (but I predominately consumed)  one can of Dinty Moore Beef Stew, a box of chewy Jolly Ranchers and Mike and Ike's, and a bag of Flamin'-hot Cheetos... In one evening (WHAT HAVE I DONE?!). 
Anything making you queasy or sick? Yes. Just, everything...except milk, Yoplait yogurt and gummy vitamins. :)
Have you started to show yet? Yep :) I have an awkward bulge; equal parts Flamin'-hot Cheetos and fetus.
Gender? No idea
Labor Signs? No
Belly Button in or out? In
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time? I was so grouchy with my husband this week. I really raked him over the coals. He has done nothing wrong. I'm just insane right now. Let's just say week 11 has been a doozy. 
Looking forward to? The things I've looked forward to since the start: ultrasound, diaper bag, second trimester, telling family.

I have been really homesick this week, too. Christmas cannot come fast enough. I love you, Utah!

Week 13 Update

Alright, friends.

Just to let you know up front: I am late writing this bumpdate... and I didn't take a picture of myself (Oh, shame, haha). I am currently about 14 and a half weeks, but I think I can recall the details pretty well. :)

On to the fun parts!

No picture of my barely-there baby bump this week. My bad.

How far along? 13 weeks 
Baby is: The size of a PEACH!
Total weight gain/loss? One whole pound!
Maternity clothes? No, but I do love stretchy clothes...
Stretch marks? No.
Sleep? Great, but waking up a little more in the night.
Best moment this week? Telling our families!!! I am working on a reactions video that I will put up here soon, yay!
Miss Anything? A little waist maybe.
Movement? No
Food cravings? Thai and/or Indian food.
Anything making you queasy or sick? An empty stomach always makes me feel super nauseous. 
Have you started to show yet? Yes, but it's still not distinguishably a baby bump.
Gender? We find out in a month!
Labor Signs? No
Belly Button in or out? In
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time? Mostly happy this week. :)
Looking forward to? A baby!

Week Nine Update

Oh my goodness. I feel so sick. It's 1 am and I am laying in bed eating saltines. Generally, my morning sickness has been manageable; I've only tossed my lunch three times. However, I feel sick nearly every day. If my stomach gets empty I lose it.

These days I feel pretty functional and not tired until I sit down and take an unintentional four-hour nap (as I did today). I can't stay awake in movies or in car rides lasting longer than 15 minutes (when I'm a passenger).

Insurance is making me nervous. As far as I can tell I am 90 day out from getting benefits from my job. I did, however, apply for Medicaid last week. It is done. Now we're just waiting to see if I qualify for benefits. I am not sure when I will find out, or even when or if the Medicaid office will fax my legal documents. I just want to see a doctor... I really don't want to pay for an ultrasound out of pocket, let alone anything else, but we've decided if we haven't heard from the Medicaid people this week we will just pay for the appointment ourselves. Bah. Set backs.

I am excited to announce that I bought gummie prenatal vitamins... If only I could eat them like candy. They are seriously so delicious.

I've been taking a prenatal vitamin for almost two years. There are good prenatal vitamins and really bad prenatal vitamins. I didn't appreciate this fully until I was actually pregnant. I recently bought cheap, stinky horse pill prenatals because they were on sale. They no longer cut it.

Alas, gummies have made consumption a total joy. As it goes, a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down.

Now, how about an update :)

Baby!

How far along? 9 weeks!
Baby is: The size of a grape
Total weight gain/loss? I actually have not checked in the last few days. It shouldn't be too different, if I have gained or lost at all
Maternity clothes? No
Stretch marks? No
Sleep? Anytime I can
Best moment this week? Buying gummie prenatal vitamins, hands down
Miss Anything? Flexibility to eat whatever, whenever
Movement? No
Food cravings? Chicken nuggets--I don't indulge
Anything making you queasy or sick? Yes... We have an entire "don't let Claire see or smell this" cupboard actually
Have you started to show yet? No, although I think my torso is expanding (not sure if I am just getting fat or if my uterus is just the size of a grapefruit)
Gender? No idea, but I just heard I can find out the gender at 12 weeks through genetic screening! What?! We're in the future.
Labor Signs? No
Belly Button in or out? In
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time? Happy :)
Looking forward to? Pregnancy aside, Texas cooling off. Otherwise, just getting to second trimester... Or getting my diaper bag in the mail :)

Week 10 Update

Insured!

This evening I found out I am eligible for Medicaid and got my card in the mail! Hot dog, I have insurance! I am so truly happy about this. Phew. Pregnancy just got way less expensive. In other news, I just scrolled through my own Facebook newsfeed and I talk about crying all. the. time. Dang, I'm going to give myself away. The funny thing is, I hold it together with sad or frustrating things; I weep like an infant when I am happy and inspired. Good heavens.

So my nausea is kind of subsiding! Hooray! I mean, I had it all day today, but generally the morning sickness is gradually easing up. This, however, seems to be making way for exhaustion. I slept from 7 PM to 7 AM last night. This is not an exaggeration.

Well, right now I am nearly 10 weeks and 5 days pregnant! My first ultrasound is scheduled for two weeks from today, but now that I am insured, I will try to bump that up to as soon as possible. If I truly am 10 weeks, our baby should being about an inch and a half long or about the size of a kumquat (what the heck is that):

Anyway, here's the weekly questionnaire:

How far along? 10 weeks (and 4 days)
Baby is: The size of a kumquat (or a prune)
Total weight gain/loss? Maybe a pound and a half
Maternity clothes? No
Stretch marks? No
Sleep? All the time.
Best moment this week? Getting my insurance card and finding out my friend Natalie and I have the same due date!
Miss Anything? A non-bloaty waist
Movement? Not that I can feel (although my baby does move now)
Food cravings? Not recently
Anything making you queasy or sick? Yes. Not as much as last week. I still avoid whole grains.
Have you started to show yet? Oh my goodness, YES. A little. It has to be that I'm just bloated. I really just look chubby, if we're being real here.
Gender? No clue
Labor Signs? No
Belly Button in or out? In
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time? While I'm happy most of the time, I have been weirdly irrational, irritable, and/or emotional a couple times this last week. Oh gosh.
Looking forward to? My first ultrasound and getting my diaper bag in the mail! I am super excited to tell my family and friends that we're expecting.

You guys, I am already one-fourth of the way done with my pregnancy! What?!

Week 14 Bumpdate

I finally made this whole pregnancy Facebook official, so I will publish all my pregnancy updates dating back to week five! I have dutifully posted [secretly] each week since I learned the good news. If you're like me and enjoy reading stuff like that, feel free to check out all those posts.

Back to business.

This week our baby is becoming more proportional and can do a lot of cool things like grimace and stuff his or her thumb. It measures about 3 and 1/2 inches, too.

Questionnaire:
How far along? 14 weeks 
Baby is: The size of a naval orange
Total weight gain/loss? Maybe two pounds
Maternity clothes? No.
Stretch marks? No.
Sleep? Great, but waking up a little more in the night.
Best moment this week? Waking up and realizing I have a hard-ish baby bump. Then I rolled over and slept forever like most days, which is also a highlight of the week.
Miss Anything? Lifting really heavy things. I've finally decided it's time to delegate tasks like moving 30-pound boxes and such.
Movement? Not distinguishably yet.
Food cravings? Nothing this week
Anything making you queasy or sick? Nope! I just started taking anti-nausea medication because let's get real--it's second trimester.
Have you started to show yet? Yes.
Gender? We find out soon. My bets are on a boy, but I sure like either.
Labor Signs? None.
Belly Button in or out? In
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time? Happy :)
Looking forward to? Moving to a bigger apartment...eventually.