22

Hey!  Here we are at 22 weeks celebrating it in Singapore!  Pre-baby, husband and I agreed that our next adventure would take us to Southeast Asia. We didn't have plans to go for several more months, though. Well, baby decided to make an appearance and so we made the decision to move up this trip and plan it before baby was born. 

Planning it at this stage of my pregnancy turned out to work perfectly. I'm still very mobile, have energy, and feel great in general. I've noticed that I need to take it a lot more easier, though. Maybe it's the humidity and 80+ degrees F weather in Singapore, but my feet were killing me after day 1 of exploring the city!  This has never happened to me before. I usually love exploring a new city by foot. So I've taken day 1 as a reminder that I need to slow down, get lots of rest, and stay hydrated! 

22 weeks at the Singapore Botanical Gardens

Clearly, this child is growing fast. The most exciting development as of the past 2 weeks is movement. What used to feel like tiny gas bubbles has turned into a full-out ninja session inside of my belly. It's the single most coolest feeling ever.  My favorite thing to do as of late is play Poke the Baby. I'll give it a little poke to make it move around. It is awesome to feel it respond. Even more exciting is that husband is starting to be able to feel our baby's kicks if it's positioned correctly.  It is truly a beautiful thing. 

Halfway Point and Embarrassing Things

Hi.  I'm twenty weeks pregnant today.  Holy shit.  This baby is halfway ready to make its appearance.  I'm halfway done being pregnant.

I still can't quite wrap my mind around this whole experience and what's to come out of it all.  I don't like to be overwhelmed.  At all.  So much that when something starts to overwhelm me, I just brush it off and convince myself that it's not really a big deal.  Things will be resolved eventually, so why worry?  That's it.  I just try to not allow myself to worry about things.  Because it will stress me out, and stress is bad.  So that's my attitude about life in a nutshell.  And throughout this pregnancy, I've just been going with the flow and allowing nature to take its course.  Recently, though, I'll have moments where I sit and think about what this all really means.  There's a human being inside of me that is going to depend on the husband and I in order to survive.  Survive.  That's a huge responsibility.  Eventually it will grow up and be self dependent.  But us, we are going to depend on this thing forever.  It's an extension of us.  We'll always be worried about it, what it's up to, how it's feeling, the choices it is going to make in life.

Thoughts like these are scaring the shit out of me!  There, I said it.

So I'm just gonna do what I always do and convince myself to stop worrying about it.  This baby will come (in ~20 weeks!?!), and we will have no other option but to be its parents and guide it as well as we can.  Things will be fine, yes...they will turn out just fine.

On to other topics.  I'm starting to feel much more preggo.  Not just by how I look, but by my capabilities which I have realized are becoming increasingly limited.  Along with that come some embarrassing moments.

Example #1: I wasn't able to make it to the gym one night, so I decided to do a quick 30 minute workout in our building's fitness center.  I took my jump rope with me because I wanted to practice double-unders for a few minutes.  After about 20 mins of light stretching and weights, I took out my jump rope and started jumping.  For my fellow females who are familiar with double-unders, you know what that means.  Jumping up and down repeatedly with extreme focus and effort to not lose that rhythm, all while trying to hold it in.  But the longer you jump, the less control you seem to have and sometimes you have a little accident.  It happens to all of us.  Well, the feeling was the same during my quick 5 minute double-under session.  Except what I thought was just a little slip was actually a full-out "I peed my pants."  Luckily, no one else was in the fitness center to witness Embarrassing Moment #1.  I ran upstairs and practically cried to my husband about how I no longer have full control over my own body.

Example #2:  This time, it happened at the gym.  No, not double-unders.  Stand ups.  The workout of the day included stand ups.  "Oh easy!," I thought.  "I love stand ups."  I set up my equipment and eagerly waited for the 10 second countdown for workout to start.  Didn't even do a couple of warm-up stand ups because, duh, stand ups are easy for me.  Silly me.  The workout starts, everyone is racing to complete their 4 rounds of "something something, stand ups, something something something."  I get to the stand ups, attempt one...and I couldn't do it!  I tried again and again, and I kept rolling back from my stand up attempts.  WTF.  Have you seen those videos of the puppies lying on their back trying to roll over to get back on all fours?  Super cute, right?  Me..not so cute.  I was the desperate pregnant woman trying to stand up on her own two feet, but clearly no longer had that capability.  I was embarrassed.  Eventually I gave up and had to borrow someone's station where I could do a scaled version of a stand up.

I realize that these may not be the most embarrassing of moments.  Things could always be worse.  They just really caught me 100% off-guard about how much my body is truly changing.  It's an indication that I will need to continue to modify how I proceed through my day.  It started with simple things at the beginning of pregnancy like "don't eat this, stop drinking that."  Now all of these physical impediments are really starting to  become a reality.  It's all good.  Shit is getting real and I like it.  :)

19 weeks

Could it be that we are almost halfway through?!  I continue to be in disbelief.  I wake up grateful every morning to see that belly and know that we are one day closer to meeting the little one.

This week we went on our first international family outing.  It was nothing elaborate; we just drove two hours south to Tijuana for...you guessed it...baby shopping!

I've been wanting to start a book collection for the baby, and where else could I be sure to find books written in Spanish but in Mexico!  We came back with a nice starting collection of really cute baby books.  One of the things that I am most excited for is reading to our baby, even while in the womb.  It's one of the simplest ways I can think of to connect with our baby, especially now as it is starting to develop its sense of hearing.  Sure, it can't understand anything and won't for a while even after birth.  But the plan is to keep communicating with it and foster a love for reading early on.  With that, we successfully made our first baby purchases!

Symptoms: Nothing bad still!  My nose has been runnier than usual, and sometimes slightly bloody (gross, I know.)  I read that swelling of mucous membranes and surrounding blood vessels is common during the 2nd trimester.  So I guess that's normal.  Whatev, it's nothing I can't deal with.
Foods I can't stand: Nada!  I am still eating well and enjoying every bite.  I don't have the appetite of a hungry, hungry hippo.  In fact, I don't ever really feel very hungry.  I've been eating about the same amount as I did pre-pregnancy and I generally feel satisfied as I go through my day.
Cravings: Nope, not really.
Thankful for: Movement!  I'm so sure that I've been feeling this tiny creature inside of my belly squirm around.  It's a natural reassurance that the baby is growing and thriving, which I am so extremely thankful for.
Current weight: 115.5 Finally some solid weight gain!

18 weeks

What's up, 18 weeks!

There isn't much to report this time around.  Belly is still bumpin'.  Baby is doing its thang.  I'm feeling great.  It has been a really smooth week.

Clothes is starting to become an issue.  I have a couple of work-friendly maternity pants that are my favorite things right now.  Converting my non-maternity pants to maternity-friendly by attaching a rubber band to the front button is starting to look kind of ratchet.  Then there's the possibility that the zipper will go down without me noticing.  So, I kind of need to add a couple more work-friendly pants to my wardrobe.  The issue is that I really don't want to.  So far I've looked for clothes at Target, H&M, and Old Navy and everything is so.ugly.  The nice stuff is, of course, expensive and way more than I'm willing to pay for something so temporary.  So what to do?  Keep looking ratchet until the zippers break from my pre-preggo pants?  Buy ugly, cheap clothes?  Or buy a couple more cheap, basic, wear with anything leggings and wear the hell out of them?
I've been checking Craigslist religiously for used clothing.  It's hard to find someone who is selling a wardrobe that 1) is my size, and 2) I actually like.  But I shall keep checking.

So, I'm dealing with outgrowing my clothes but this is a very good problem to have.  I love this growing belly very much.

Showing off a gnarly bruise I got at the gym a couple days back.  It was nothing dramatic, really.  I was just dumb and took a couple step backwards trying to get out of someone's way.  I ended up jamming my arm into the handlebar of a stationary bike.  woops

Symptoms: Happiness!  I have been very happy recently.  Happy that I am no longer feeling ill, that my energy seems to be back to normal, and that this baby is strong and growing.
Foods I can't stand: I think I can handle about anything right now.  I'm not particularly hungry, but if you put food in front of me I will eat just about anything.
Cravings: Yogurt is still pretty damn good.
Other?: I'm glad to be back to my regular diet again.  The husband and I are cooking at home almost every night.  I've added dairy to my diet just because yogurt is so good nowadays and I want that extra calcium.  Feels really good to eat clean again, and to enjoy food.
Thankful for: Our health (baby's, husband's, and mine)  :)
Current weight: 114.5 Same as last week.

Seventeen

Dude, I'm 17 weeks along.  It's official.  I have a bump.  There's no hiding it.  Check it:

Three people randomly asked me this week.  I went from having a tiny muffin top to 3 random inquiries?!  The first one completely caught me off guard.  For one, it was night time so it was dark.  Second, it was cold so I was wearing my thick hoodie.  Third, I was walking through our parking garage juggling my purse and three bags of groceries (we were coming home from grocery shopping.)  We happened to bump into a sweet, older German woman who lives in our building.  After greeting each other the next thing she spits out is an enthusiastic "Are you pregnant?!"  To which I responded with the affirmative, though not quite as enthusiastic because I was so surprised and not expecting that question.

A few days after that, a woman at my work came up to my cubicle after we passed each other in the halls.   She asked if I had any news to share.  I knew what she was referring to since her gaze was directed towards my belly.  So yeah, word is out at work.

Finally, I went to a friend's 30th birthday party last Saturday night.  My girl friends who were there, and who I haven't announced the news to yet, either all remained oblivious to my burgeoning belly or thought I had put on some extra baggage.  My friends mom, however, came up running behind me, placed her hand on my belly as if to validate its existence, and gave me another enthusiastic "you're pregnant?!"

So yes, I'm officially bumping.  Please excuse all this belly blabber.  I'm just really excited that this baby is growing and that things have been going so very well.  I never thought I'd be so worried about sustaining a pregnancy.  It's just that everything has been falling into place so smoothly.  Smoothly enough that I have this paranoia in the back of my mind that something is bound to go wrong.  THAT'S AWFUL.  I KNOW.  And SOOO not me.  Ugh, is this a parenthood thing?  Worrying about your child all the freakin' time?

I'm trying so hard to remain positive.  One thing that really helped was announcing the news to our close circle of friends.  The outpour of support and kind words that we received was astounding to me.  People are genuinely happy for us, and that made me feel so grateful.  I was finally able to share my pregnancy experience with some of my girlfriends.  It was so nice to just talk about it.  It sort of made me sad that I hid this news for so long, but I know that I wasn't ready until now.  Like I said earlier, things are falling into place and happening when they are meant to happen.

It's been a great week.

Symptoms: Nothing really.
Foods I can't stand: None!  Digging food more and more!
Cravings: Still diggin' yogurt.
Thankful for: Our friends.  Their kind, encouraging, and positive words.  How am I worthy of these nice people in my life?!
Current weight: 114.5  No real weight change between this and last week.

Sweet 16

Hello 4 months!  I can't believe I've made it this far.  With every passing week, this pregnancy feel more and more real.  I may not look very preggo, but that bump from last week is starting to look legit.  See!?:

Last week was another rough one, health-wise.  They ain't joking when they say that your immune system becomes suppressed during pregnancy.  Just last month, I caught a nasty cold that turned into a fever.  As soon as I recovered from that and started feeling normal again, the hubby came down with a cold.  I carried on with life as usual, thinking that I was all bad-ass and immune since I already had my sickness.  Nope, he went and infected me with his stupid germs that had my sick in bed for an entire weekend.  At least this one didn't develop into anything worse, but I'm still dealing with the yucky post-cold cough and phleminess.  Not cute.

Besides that, baby is fine and apparently growing.  And that makes me happy.  I can't wait for my checkup at 17 weeks to hopefully see/hear the baby again!

Symptoms: Sickness.  Immune System Suppression is real, yo.
Foods I can't stand: n/a
Cravings: I've never been much of a dairy person, but I like my yogurts right now.  I'm enjoying at least one a day and it is the perfect snack.
Thankful for: that my sickness didn't get any worse this time around.  Gotta look at the brighter side of things.
Current weight: 114.5

13, 14, 15

How did these past weeks fly by so quickly?  For the first time in my pregnancy, it feels like time is moving along at a decent pace.  Finally, finally I don't feel sick all the time.  I still relish my sleep and nap times, but I don't walk around feeling like a zombie all day every day.  Food?  Eating and enjoying it has improved.  There is still some room for improvement, but my appetite is verrry sloowwwwllly creeping back.  I'm guessing that this better overall state-of-being has contributed to making time seem like it's going by at a quicker pace.  And to that I say hooray to happier pregnancy days!  Not to say that I don't still have those bad, yucky ones.  But those instances have decreased dramatically.  I'm hoping that it will only get better from here.

A highlight from week 13: we got to see our baby again.  It was the most amazing thing ever!  The baby has grown so much since week 10.  It was super active, waving its arms and legs, jumping around like a little bean.  The ultrasound tech performed the Nuchal Translucency screening and took some quick measurements.  Those, along with a blood test came back normal, thankfully.  It won't be another month or so until we get to see or hear our baby again, but I'm still riding off that high from week 13.

I missed pictures for weeks 13 and 14, but there wasn't much besides something that seemed like major bloat.  After week 14 that bloat finally looked like *maybe* a wannabe baby bump.  I'm still wearing my pre-pregnancy work wardrobe, but need to use a hairband to keep pant buttons secure.  Tops are limited to my flowey, loose options.  People haven't noticed yet.  Or if they do, they probably just think I've put on a few pounds.  Which, surprisingly, I haven't.  I'm still hovering between 113 to 114 on the scale, which isn't too different from my weight for the past several weeks.  According to the books, I should start gaining about a pound a week fairly soon.  My hope is that my appetite will continue to improve so that I can start putting on that healthy baby weight.  Bring on the bump!

Symptoms: Headaches.  At around week 14 I started getting headachey almost every day, especially after a long day of work.  Where did that come from? I hardly ever had headaches before.  It's nothing I can't handle, but it's a bit annoying.  And it doesn't do well for my general mood.
Foods I can't stand: Food aversions are starting to disappear!  I had a latte, enjoyed some chocolate chip cookies, and ate a bite of sweet potato all within the past three weeks.  All of these would have certainly made me gag weeks ago.  I don't necessarily crave these things, but it's nice to know I can handle them.
Cravings: Really loving my smoothies right now.  There's a juicery a few blocks away that I find myself frequenting more and more.
Other?: Nap times are still a must.  My lunch hour is now officially nap hour, and it really makes a difference in how I feel for the rest of the day.
Thankful for: a tiny baby bump!
Current weight: 114.0

12 weeks

Welp, we're 12 weeks in.  We've made it to the "other side" where all of those 1st trimester symptoms suddenly vanish into thin air, the bump gets bigger, and I can happily announce to the entire world that I am expecting.  Right?  hmm....not so fast.

I spent a good chunk of today feeling exceptionally shitty, so my "morning" sickness is not yet a thing of the past.  My good days are starting to outnumber those bad days, so I *think* things are making a turn for the better.  This past week, though, was just not my best in terms of health.  I spent last Sunday feeling extremely groggy, so I slept most of the day.  At night I developed a fever, which had me freaking out.  I popped some tylenol and woke up slightly better but still sick as a dog on Monday.  Ended up taking a day off work and spending the day in bed.  I gradually got better as the week progressed, but am still not 100%.  That, combined with my general pregnancy symptoms, did not make for a fun week.

About that bump.  It's nowhere to be found.  I've noticed that I'm much more softer around the edges, and I look like I have a muffin top more than a baby bump.  So yeah, no progress there.  I'm still wearing all of my regular clothes.  My pants fit comfortably, but they seem to accentuate that muffin top I was talking about.

And pregnancy announcements?  Not quite ready for that.  I kind of like having this little (big) secret all to myself.  Including the husband and parents, of course.  I have no interest in sharing it with the world yet.  Plus, I'm not even showing.  People are going to think I'm a big fat liar.

I did start to tell the coaches at my gym.  After getting some "are you okay?" "sure you don't want to go heavier on that lift?" type questions repeatedly, I figured it was time to let them in on the news.  Just so that they know why I need to take a water or bathroom break every 10 minutes, or why I'm not being my super-competitive self.  That was a relief.  Speaking of Crossfit, I have never loved it more.  During the first trimester, there were points where I reached my all-time ultimate low in terms of energy and mood.  Despite that, I managed to make it to the gym almost every day these past 3 months.  Well, with the exception of sick days and holidays.  I am definitely feeling the benefits of having kept active during my first trimester.  I feel sick due to my general preggo symptoms, but I still feel healthy.  I don't feel like a total slob, which I'm sure I would have felt had I stayed in bed feeling sorry for my pregnant self.  I've also managed to keep up with my skills: pull-ups, bar muscle ups, handstand walks - still got em!  I'm sure there will come a point where doing these things will be physically impossible, but I'm really glad I haven't lost them just yet.

Symptoms:  I'm feeling better!  My appetite is slowly creeping back.  Still tired all the time, though.
Foods I can't stand: Still got no love for coffee or brussel sprouts.
Cravings: Nope.
Other?:  I hit a milestone this week - I started cooking again!  Cooked three meals in a row Monday through Wednesday and I ate every single one of them.  I think this is hinting towards my normal energy + appetite coming back.  Let's hope we can keep this up.
Thankful for: Naps!!!  Taking a nap has become a requirement for me to make it through some days.  During the week I have taken to sneaking out to my car during lunch, finding some shade to park under, and knocking out for a good 45 minutes.  It is the BEST.
Current weight: 113.0.  I haven't gained more than 5 lbs during the 1st trimester, and all of it happened very early on.  The past 5 or so weeks, I've kept a pretty constant weight.  Not sure when I'm supposed to start gaining consistently, but I imagine it would be soon?

11 Weeks

We are at 11 weeks today, and what an exciting week it has been!  Last Wednesday I had my 10 week check-up with my doctor, which included an ultrasound to make sure that the baby is developing as expected.  That's right, it was the first time that I got to see my baby!  When I had my very first ultrasound, my doctor's office sent me to an outside imaging center because the office didn't have any available appointments for another couple of weeks.  Imagine my disappointment when the imaging center didn't let me see the screen or give me any results on the spot!  The results had to be sent to my doctor so that she could interpret them and report to me.  Luckily, I received a call early the next morning indicating that the results were fine and that my baby had a heartbeat.  Still, I was very eager to see it for myself.  I needed EVIDENCE, dammit!  And I got that on Wednesday.

Baby, you are beautiful.  There are no words for how overwhelmed with happiness I was to see an actual baby on that screen.  A tiny one, with head, facial features, two arms, two legs, kicking and waving up a storm.  I was beaming with pride at how developed it was, at how far it's come with me already, and how it doesn't look like he/she will be giving up any time soon!  All this sickness I've been dealing with for the past several weeks?  Totally worth it.

Seeing my little one was certainly the highlight of my pregnancy so far.  Now, on to the photos.

Symptoms:  Nothing new here.  Same as last time.
Foods I can't stand:  Still got no love for coffee and brussel sprouts.  Not really feeling chocolate either, BUT, I actually ate a small piece this week and did not gag.  It was not particularly enjoyable, but I wanted to test myself to see what happens.  Was able to eat chocolate like a champ.
Cravings:  Zero.  I do get hungry, though.  I mean, I have to eat eventually even if it means forcing myself.  I am really enjoying smoothies and oatmeal, though.  I ate oatmeal with fresh strawberries all week for breakfast and it was my happiest meal of the day.
Other symptoms?:  Indigestion (heartburn) is a bitch.  Can't really eat a heavy meal without feeling like I'm about to belch it out.  So, been trying to eat a small meal every 2-4 hours or so.  It doesn't always work.
Thankful for: MY BABY!  OMG, you're there.  You're alive!  Best.feeling.in.the.world.  I am so very thankful for you.
Current weight: 113.5 lbs.  Same as last week.  Still no real weight gain in the past four weeks or so.

On another note, I turned 30 years old this week!  This, obviously, paled in comparison to the other exciting things that happened last week.  But my birthday was fun.  The husband took me out for a nice pizza dinner.  I felt sick when we first got to the restaurant, which worried me a bit.  But once the pizza was in front of me I devoured a good three slices!  Also had a salsa dancing night at El Floridita in Hollywood with a bunch of friends.  Live band, and cuban food (plantains!).  Was really good times!

10 weeks

We in da double digits, yo!  Aaand that's about the most exciting part about this update.  Yep, this week hasn't been much different from the previous three.  Still grossed out by food.  Still feeling shitty.  So shitty, in fact, that I spent the very first hours of 2014 in front of my toilet.  Shortly after midnight, I threw up my entire dinner.  The puke persisted throughout the night, waking me up every 2 hours or so.  You know, just in case there was anything left in my stomach (there wasn't.)  Happy New Years to you too, baby.

I've been taking it day by day.  Feeding myself is such a chore nowadays, and I'm sure I piss off my husband every night when he asks "what do you want to eat?"  and I respond with the usual "Nothing. bleh."  New Years dinner was actually the first meal that I cooked in over two weeks.  And we all know what happened to that meal.  I just don't like my own food anymore.  So I'm still not cooking.  :(

Symptoms: I feel like shit.
Foods I can't stand:  Same as last week
Cravings:  None.  But when I do eat, I'm really liking carbs.  Potatoes, pasta, bread.  A huge departure from my non-prego diet, but I must eat.  And with this lack of appetite, I'll take whatever I can stomach.
Thankful for: my sickness.  Weird, right?  But I haven't had a check up for three weeks and have no idea what's going on inside my body right now.  Feeling sick is the only sign that things are a-okay.  So yeah, I'm thankful for that.
Current weight: 113.5 lbs.  I dropped down to 111 after my barf episode.  The weight has gradually risen throughout the week.

Knocked Down

Who came up with the term "knocked up?"  I'm guessing it was a man. A man who had never been pregnant. Cuz if you asked me how I'm feeling right now it would be more like KnockedDaFuqDOWN. Three times over. By a giant wrecking ball.

This has been my state of being for the past three weeks. I just hit the 9 week mark and these feelings of crappiness seem to have no end in sight. Don't get me wrong. I am extremely happy and feel so very fortunate to be going through this experience. Blood work results pointing towards a healthy start to this pregnancy was such a relief. Getting the results of that first ultrasound telling me that I was exactly 7 weeks, 3 days with a positive heartbeat was like the best effing news I had ever received in my entire life!  

Despite these moments of joy, I just don't feel like myself recently.  I'm tired all the time, have little motivation to go to the gym, and I.hate.food.  Who am I?!!  Ugh.  It's really frustrating because I truly want to enjoy every moment of this pregnancy.  I keep reminding myself how lucky I am.  But when you're feeling like a sick slug for three weeks straight, it's really hard.  I just want to feel well again.

I figured I'd start taking weekly pictures.  There's no bump yet, but my body has definitely been going through some changes.  I've gained a couple pounds in the past 2 months.  I do feel softer around the edges and bloated.  When we broke the news to my mom, she said that she knew something was up because when I was sitting down at the dinner table, I had rolls.  Thanks, Mom, for calling out my fatness.  My pre-preggo pants still fit, but they are tighter.  One thing that I'm actually okay with are the bigger boobs (woop woop!)  I have a couple of new bras that I bought a year ago.  Then I leaned out a bit shortly after buying them, and the boobage shrank in the process.  :(  Now I can finally wear those bras again!

Symptoms: Super tired.  Moody.  Nauseous at times.  No appetite.
Foods that I used to love, but can't stand anymore: Coffee.  Chocolate.  Brussel Sprouts.
Cravings: Nothing.  More sleep?
Thankful for: My husband.  He is my angel.  I don't know how he has put up with me and my moodiness/crappiness, but he is handling it so well.  I am so, so thankful to have him by my side right now.
Also, Crossfit.  I mentioned that I have little motivation to go to the gym.  But I know that it is good for me and the baby to continue exercising.  All I have to do is show up and the coach takes care of the rest.  I have scaled down my intensity by a lot, and am taking plenty of breaks during the workouts.  If it weren't for my gym I probably would have gained a shit ton more of weight and my energy would be much less than it already is.
Current weight: 114 lbs

So I've Been Blogging...

After a very long hiatus, I started blogging again.  I always enjoyed blogging, but didn't enjoy the feeling that I had to blog X amount of times per week or month.  It wasn't like I made some binding commitment to blog a certain amount of times per month.  It was just like this personal standard that I held myself to and it made me sad that I wasn't meeting it.  Not sure why.  I'm weird like that.  I obviously forgot about that standard over time and, well, fell off the blogging wagon.

But anyway, I'm back.  And I've been blogging for several weeks.  You just haven't seen these posts because I never published them.  They were top secret material.  Until now.

The secret is out: the husband and I are expecting our first child.  A baby.  Us, parents.  I know, right?

So far this experience has been both exciting and scary.  Exciting for obvious reasons: we get to welcome a mini-us into our lives!  Scary cuz this is an entirely new experience and it caught us just a little off-guard.  We started off as very clueless about what to expect, but we have been adapting well.  Overall, it has been fun and keeps getting better with every passing week.  It has also given me inspiration to write again and document this very exciting chapter.

I am about 22 weeks along now, so I'll be hitting that publish button on quite a few backlogged posts.  Here goes nothing!

30 is the new 20?

I recently watched a TED talk where the presenter argued against the phrase 30 is the new 20.  Her stance was basically something like "your 20s are your 20s and you can never get those years back."  I agree with her on that sentiment, but as far as the youthfulness and quality of life associated with one's 20's I think that saying 30 is the new 20 can be valid.

I'm only saying that because just a couple months ago I turned 30, and guess what?  I feel as youthful and happy as I did when I turned 20.  In fact, I feel better!  For one, my future isn't looming in the distance taunting me like a giant question mark.  I kinda, sorta have shit figured out.  I may not be exactly where I want to be yet, but I know how to get there.  Goals seem much more tangible now.  Not easy, but attainable.

So that is reassuring.  And as a result, I feel much happier and content with life.  I still have my youth and there's a lot of living left to do!

Not to say that my 20s were bad or unhappy.  They weren't at all!  I've had many experiences that I am so grateful for.  Actually, I kind of feel like I ended my 20s with a bang.  Some highlights from year 29 included:

Finally, after years of working and going to school at the same time: I received my Masters Degree.  Done.  FINALLY.

Visited the Dominican Republic for the first time.  A purely R&R vacation, which is rare for us.

Visited Colombia for the 2nd time.  This country holds a very special place in my heart.  I can't wait to return.

Visited Peru for the first time.  Hiked the classic Inka Trail for 4 days to arrive to Machu Picchu.  A challenging, magical, and unforgettable experience.

Celebrated our 4 year wedding anniversary.  Marriage is a wonderful, beautiful thing.  I'm so lucky to have experienced the majority of my 20s with this man.

Yeah, I have A LOT to be thankful for.  Also - A LOT to look forward to.  Here's to 30 being the new 20!