I started this blog when I first found out I was pregnant 4 months ago and now I am 18 weeks along; nearly halfway there!  In the time that I have written this, I can see the emotional changes and physical changes that I’ve gone through.  Reading early posts reminds me of how sick I felt and how anxiety ridden I was the first few months.   The hormones are nuts during pregnancy, especially during the first trimester, so much is going on with your body very suddenly and your mind is trying to deal with it all.
Lately, I feel a lot more grounded and comfortable, I’m definitely not as stressed about being pregnant and nor am I as sick; in the last few weeks I even was able to start cooking dinner again, something Josh is very happy about.   For a while I couldn’t even think of anything except for surviving day by day during the, trying not to be anxious, and dealing with headaches (that still plague me, but less often).  Then at week 10 things started to subside a little and life was a lot more bearable and each week after that things just started to feel more normal.   The strange dreams weren’t so scary (just weird) and stopped containing death or dying or the threat of death or dying, the smell of the refrigerator didn’t make me want to barf, I was able to eat meat again, my anxiety subsided and I finally feel normal-ish.   Its such a relief!  I am in the second trimester now, the part of pregnancy that lots of women seem to enjoy and it has been the best part of pregnancy so far.  Part of that is because I finally feel better, its so nice to not feel like you have the flu 24/7 for 3 months. Read the rest of this entry »

No, this wasn't my beer.

~* written from my perspective; pregnant for the first time, nervous, and hormonal; take these posts with a grain of salt please *~
Written partly in early April, partly today May 10th, 2011.

It’s still really weird to call myself a mom; I can write it, but saying it out loud is hard and knowing I am responsible for someone is even harder and the responsibility starts during gestation by the choices you make.  So, now comes the gray area of every mom-to-be; how do you handle your pregnancy, how do you choose from all the conflicting advice and evidence even in the medical community regarding what is safe and not safe during pregnancy?   I think there are more gray areas during pregnancy then there are statistics showing actual evidence one way or another; here is what I mean.  Is it okay to take Tylenol or  Benadryl when needed or highlight your hair, what about having a glass of wine, or an albacore tuna sandwich, get a manicure/pedicure, drink herbal tea, take herbs, etc., etc., and the list goes on and on.  I am sure some of you said ‘yes’ and others said ‘no’ to each of these things.  Read the rest of this entry »

~* written from my perspective; pregnant for the first time, nervous, and hormonal; take these posts with a grain of salt please *~
Written Early April at 10 Weeks:
At about week 10, I started to feel a change.  It was almost like I woke up one day and didn’t feel as queasy or anxious.  I remember learning in college (I took lots of child birthing classes) that a woman’s hormone levels can just drop instantly and that immediately makes them feel better and I was sure this had happened.  I wasn’t sweating as much, my stomach didn’t demand food quite as often and my nausea declined significantly.  I could feel a difference within 1 day and it was amazing and I was so grateful. Read the rest of this entry »

~* written from my perspective; pregnant for the first time, nervous, and hormonal; take these posts with a grain of salt please *~
When I started this blog, I wanted to share all my feelings and experiences regarding this pregnancy, and I was prepared for criticism and negative comments toward me and the way I handle pregnancy.  But the last thing that I wanted was to make other people I love feel hurt by my writing; I made a family member pretty sad in a prior post so I tried to be more vague in future posts and that didn’t work either.  Unfortunately, being vague can make anyone (everyone) reading the blog feel bad for their actions, even when it wasn’t directed at them and I apologize for this.  I receive lots of comments to my email regarding what I write, some great, some negative, and I have considered stopping writing so candidly because of this.  However, my husband insists that I need to keep writing, ‘even if its not positive about him” (his words) because he can see how writing this has helped me.  Saying, “with all the things I have tried to do over the years to handle some of my fears, this is working for me the best for my pregnancy”.   So, I will forge onward with a lesson learned and hope I can do better in the future .  I love and value all of my friends and family.

Read the rest of this entry »

~* written from my perspective; pregnant for the first time, nervous, and hormonal; take these posts with a grain of salt please *~
Week 7; What happened to personal hygiene and sleep?  Written March 13th
Before pregnancy, I showered most every day, cause that’s just normal, right?  But since pregnancy somehow this has completely gone by the wayside and I am not sure how that happened?  I realized today, Friday, that I hadn’t showered since Tuesday or maybe Wednesday and with all the sweating during the night, I was pretty gross, so I managed to take a shower.
It would seem I’d have plenty of time to shower, since I haven’t slept more than 5 hours per night in weeks, but somehow each day goes by and I have completely forgotten about this normal part of my daily routine.   Do my hair, what?  Make-up, hell no!  Brushing my teeth…if I get to it. Read the rest of this entry »

Bright Blue Colorado Sky; photo on etsy

On Friday, I really needed to get outside and hike; I had been cooped up in the house all week working on a new line of hats and hiking belts for my website, but what I really needed was to get outside and try them out.
It was a balmy day in January, but very windy, so I decided that I’d stay close to home and head over to Green Mountain.  North Green Mountain is visible from my front deck, and I can see numerous trails on the north side of the mountain, but I haven’t driven through the neighborhoods to locate those trails on the mountainside before.  I decided Friday was the day, and I drove south across 6th Ave, and up into the neighborhoods on the North side of Green Mountain in search of the access to the Open Space.
After driving around for just a short time, my trail finding skills proved successful, I found the neighborhood access which connects with all of the trails visible on the north side of the mountain; stepped out of the car into the wind and decided that I’d hike to the top today!
Read the rest of this entry »

Views from the 4×4 drive road; sharp cliffs, scenic views.

At the end of August my family came out to visit; and I have been planning on blogging about it since they left.  Finally, I found some time!
My parents and sister with her new hubby Cody came to Denver along with my parents friends Bob and Marsha.  We drove into Breckenridge to stay in a condo for the weekend to do some hiking, shopping and spending time together as a family.
My parents flew into Denver on Wednesday and we drove up to Breck that evening sans Josh who was still working and going to drive up with Laura and Cody.
It was nice to spend some time with my parents, just the three of us; we had a great lunch at the Backcountry Brewery in Frisco (recommend the Wheeler Wheat beer!!) and a drive up the mountain pass outside of Breck up a 4×4 drive road for beautiful views of the mountains and lake below (photo above).
Thursday we explored the town and waited for Laura, Cody and Josh to come up that evening; then we went out to dinner and prepared ourselves for our long hike on Friday.

Is the head tilt genetic?

My dad, sister, Cody, Josh, myself and Bob hiked a 14er; Mt. Lincoln via the Kite Lake route on Friday, as this was the best weather day of the weekend.  This is the second 14er my sister has hiked, and the third for my dad and the 9th for Josh and I.
Overall the hike went really well, everyone except for Bob Tighe reached the top, but he had been battling a bad cold and made it to about 14,000 feet, but not to the peak.  The hike went better than expected, with everyone making it safely with no altitude sickness and only minor falls.
On Saturday we were all a little tired and sore from the hike, and we stayed nearby the condo, shopping, drinking and taking a ride on the free Gondola in Breck to the Alpine slide on the ski slopes.  As a kid I loved the alpine slides in Kentucky and on the East Coast when I had ridden them before, I remember being completely fearless on the dips and turns.  It was really fun to try it out again as an adult; it took a few minutes, but I did get my fearless nature back and flew down the mountain, yippie!!

The theme for Saturday; sit at a bar, drink a beer.

My favorite part of the day was w hen Laura, Cody, Josh and I went to Joe’s Dive bar for lunch, (it was not a dive bar, it was really good!) they had great pizza, a super great bartender and atmosphere.  From there the festivities continued well into the evening as we bar hopped and had fun; ending the night in a Sorry tournament that I lost every time.

On Sunday Cody, Laura and my dad were up early to catch a flight; my mom who is newly retired stayed until Wednesday.
We had a great trip with the family and hope they come out again soon.  Here are a few more pics from the visit.

On the Summit of Mt. Cameron!

pretty pic of my mom.  thats me way in the background

mmmm, beer

My parents at the Reservior

Gondola ride up the mountain to alpine park

Josh and I after a few beerz on Saturday

I cannot believe we are already into September; this summer really FLEW by!  Just 6 months ago, I quit my job and took a 6 month contract position from home working just 16 hours.  Now, that contract job has ended, summer is over, and its time for autumn, holidays and winter.  Today I went into the office to turn in my laptop and other items and said a ‘goodbye’ to the ladies in the office; they were all so easy to work with and kind, it was one of my favorite jobs.  But I am glad to have a little time off.  I have such a long ‘to-do’ list that I really need to get to work on; plus I haven’t had much time to work on my new organic Colorado Girl accessory and clothing line.

New hiking wrist warmers.

My latest crafting obsession is crocheting!  I learned to crochet years ago in college, I made a huge unfinished blanket, some scarves and then I put away my hook for knitting needles and sewing.  I don’t remember what it was exactly that made me stop crocheting, but it must have been sheer madness to change over from the hook to knitting needles, and it feels great to have my old, faithful crochet hook back.  My grandmother on my mom’s side was a whiz with the hook; she made all of her grandchildren and even great-grandchildren blankets that each of us cherish.  While I lack the patience to make a blanket, I have been making wrist warmers, neck warmers, ear warmers, scarves, and creating my own patterns  for these items to best suit the Outdoorsey Girl.  Check out some of my new items on my website and I would love to hear what you think about them!  Lots more to come.

Our garden this year has produced several large zucchini and I wasn’t prepared with how to use all this zucchini bounty without wasting it.  I was telling this to my grandmother, who suggested I make zucchini bread and she sent along her recipe.
My grandparents are in their mid 80s and still have a garden of their own, much larger than our garden; so I knew gramma would have a great recipe; she also sent another zuke recipe that I will try with my next from the garden.  I finally make some bread last night and it sure is tasty so I wanted to add the recipe here.

Zucchini Bread – Gramma Flo’s from Aunt Dodo’s Kitchen.

Ingredients:  3 eggs, 2 Cup Sugar, 2 t vanilla, 1 cup cooking oil, 2 cups grated zucchini, 3 cup flour, 1 t baking soda, 2 t cinnamon, 4t baking powder, 1t salt.  Optional; 1 cup chopped nuts (or sub chocolate chips).

Mix together in a large bowl and pour into 2 greased loaf pans.  Bake 325 for 1 hour.

Gramma says; Aunt Hazel used to add 1 can of drained crushed pineapple, but Gramma has never tried it.  (sounds good though, next time:)

Since I am not much of a baker; I want to add my two cents to the recipe.  I added 3/4 cup of brown sugar and just 1 cup of regular sugar since I was low on granulated sugar and it tasted great!  I also poured half of my mixture into a cupcake pan, since we do not have two loaf pans; if you want to make the cupcakes only bake for 37-40 minutes.  I also added a little bit of honey and chocolate chips instead of nuts.
I grated my zucchini with a carrot peeler and that worked just fine; I did leave some of the outer skin on and then I chopped up the grated zucchini before adding it to the mixture.

I live at high altitude, so I did not drain the water out of the zucchini and the bread is very moist; I also baked the bread for just about 55 minutes as things cook faster up here.

This is a yummy zucchini recipe and it turned out really good; I am eating some for breakfast now actually.  Thanks gramma, Aunt Dodo and Aunt Hazel for the recipe.