New Focus = "New Blog"

When I first started blogging back in 2004, my focus was just on my random thoughts and musings....hence the name "Randomnimnity." After a few years of avid blogging, I took a break. Only to pick up the habit again once I found out I was pregnant in the summer of 2009. I changed my blog's name to "The Wright Stuff," thinking I'd be this Super-Mom blogger detailing every aspect of my pregnancy, the birth of my daughter, the first days/weeks/months/years of her life, and all of the other fun stuff that a young family encounters on a day-to-day basis. Yeah. That lasted all of 3 posts. And I haven't written since.

Well, here we are. On the cusp of a whole new journey entirely. One which has my mind going in a million different directions. One of the best ways I am able to sort through my thoughts and feelings is to get them down in writing. I don't even care if they are never read. As long as I "get them out" somehow, I can make some sort of sense about them.

My Dad has always had a button in his truck that said "29 and holding." He's always, always, always answered, "How old are you?" with "29." And this year, he celebrated his 30th Anniversary of his 29th Birthday. I always thought that was so silly!! I NEVER thought that age would "bother" me. I have LOVED and welcomed birthdays. I'm sure many of my friends would agree that I often had BirthWEEKS instead of BirthDAYS. So I never, ever, ever, ever thought that being 29 looking at 30 would seem so scary to me!! I really don't think it would, if I didn't have this other little identity crisis going on this year.....

See...I have been teaching for 7 years. Before that, I studied Elementary Education at Clemson University for 4 years. Before that, I did two years of "Teaching as a Profession" during my Junior and Senior years in high school. Before that, all I ever remember wanting to do was teach. So, when I made the decision to leave the field of education for an indefinite amount of time to stay at home and raise my daughter, I never imagined I'd be having this hard of a time with it!! Don't get me wrong--I am beyond blessed to have the opportunity to stay home. And the deciding factor in my staying home was that I don't think I will ever regret staying home, but I know there is a good chance that I would regret NOT. So, I am doing as many other moms have done before me and put my career aside in order to give my child and my husband the best of me. This past year teaching was difficult on my family--I put my job first, and being a wife and mother came 2nd. In the whole grand scheme of things, I realized I needed to put my family first. But still. I can't help but be feel a little "left behind" as my friends and co-workers all went back to work today. Together. And I didn't.

So here I am...29 and holding...

...Unsure of where life will lead me next. Unsure of how successful I'll be as a Stay-At-Home-Mom. Unsure about what the last few months of my 30th year on Earth will bring. Unsure of growing up!!

35 Weeks!!

Wow!! Tomorrow, I will be 35 weeks into my pregnancy!!! It's so hard to believe I haven't posted anything since our 20ish week appointment where we found out that Little Lily was going to be a girl!! :) Since then, we've finished the nursery (with the exception of curtains), had 4 baby showers, and are basically counting down the days!!! I go back to the doctor on Thursday, when I will start going weekly!! Crazy!!!!! I also only have 18 more school days with my children before my spring break, which will lead into my maternity leave, which will lead into my summer vacation!! :) It's all gone by so very fast!!

I have LOVED being pregnant!!! I have fortunately had quite an uneventful pregnancy. My only (minor) setback was that I didn't pass my glucose test the first time, so they sent me to have the 3-hour test back in January. I passed that one just fine, so everything else has been pretty smooth sailing! My blood pressure has remained normal/fantastic, so that's good, too!! It's really funny, though....even though it's been great the whole time, my last two appointments happened to fall on days during which I didn't have school (a Snow Day, then President's Day), and on those two days, it was EXCELLENT!!! :) Hahaha!! What does that say about how teaching all day can affect a girl's blood pressure?! :) It's a good thing my class this year isn't all that stressful!! :)

When I go on Thursday, they are going to start "checking" me, so I'm anxious to see how much, if any, progress I begin to make over the next few weeks!! :) I'm still feeling great, and Lily has been very active, so I hope that it continues, and I can finish out this pregnancy without too much discomfort!! :)

Ultrasound!

Baby Girl sure is an active Little One!! :) We can't wait to meet her!!

Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice!!!

Well, IT'S A GIRL!!!!! It was always my gut feeling that the little butter bean inside of me was a girl, but today, we found out at our ultrasound!!! She was moving all around and kicking and flipping and actually kind of giving the ultrasound tech a hard time!! The tech kept calling her "booger" because she wouldn't be still enough for the tech to get some of the measurements she needed! It was okay, though, because that just meant our ultrasound lasted a little longer, and we got to see her for longer!! It's so amazing seeing that little person move around in there...especially since the last time we saw her, she looked like a blob! :) Both the tech and the doctor said that everything looks very normal and very healthy, and Little One is measuring right on time, and everything!! I can't believe that Wednesday is 20 weeks...the halfway mark!!! Dr. Hood had told us that at this ultrasound, it would feel more "real," and boy it does!! The baby looks like a baby, we know it's a "she," and now we can finally start planning and shopping for her!!! YAY!!!! I've also been able to feel her for about the past week and a half, but it's just been the little bumps and flutters here and there, though she's definitely been the most active when I eat!! :) I can't wait until I really start feeling the jabs and kicks, and it will be super special when Shay can start feeling her, too!!! We are just so stinking excited!!! :)

Names....oh, names!! Well, in my blog last month, we had pretty much decided on Barrett Bryan for a boy and Evans Elise if it's a girl. I still like Evans Elise, but am not quite sure anymore. We also really liked Lily Evans (I went back and forth between Evans Elise and Lily Evans so much back when we first found out we were pregnant), and after seeing her today, Lily is the stronger name in my mind at this point...it just seems to fit her better! SOOOO....she may end up being Evans Elise, she may end up being Lily Evans, and she may end up being something totally, completely different, but that's one more thing we'll have to think about over the next few days/weeks/months...but as Shay says....we have 4+ months to decide!! BUT I'm just ready to give her a name!!! :) When we decide for certain, though, you'll know it!! :)

We got a DVD of our ultrasound today, and when Shay figures out how to convert it to a web-friendly file, I will upload it to this blog and to facebook!!!

Baby Girl and I are HON-GA-RY, so I'm going to jet for now!!

15+ Weeks

Well, about 3.5 weeks ago, I came out of the "Pregnancy Closet" on facebook! I guess it's about time I blogged about it, too! Hopefully, this will help keep those who are interested "in the know" about how my pregnancy is progressing, as well as how doctor appointments go, and all that jazz!

Shay and I went to the doctor today. This was my first actual OB visit. My blood pressure was great...as a matter of fact, the nurse said, "VERY good blood pressure, my friend," which I was VERY pleased to hear. While I've never been diagnosed with "high blood pressure" or even "pre-hyptertension," my blood pressure has tended to be on the high-side. However, over the past 2 years, I have lost a good 30 pounds, and have been excercising much more and eating better. I was hoping it had paid off, and it looks like it has! Yay!! We'll just keep it up so that it's one less thing to worry about! (It was 122 over 80).

ANYWAY, I'm about 10 to 11 lbs. lighter now at 15 weeks, 2 days than I was at the time I got pregnant. This is because there were a few weeks (around weeks 8-12) that I just couldn't eat! My morning sickness made most foods very unappetizing to me! And don't even talk to me about lettuce...YUCK! I'm completely fine eating salads now, but up until about 2 weeks ago, it made me want to hurl. The good news is, I never actually did "hurl," and I hear I'm one of the lucky ones since I haven't gotten physically "sick" during pregnancy!

Even now, though I'm eating a lot more different foods, and most things taste good to me, my appetite isn't as big as it was before pregnancy. I usually must stick to small portions, and it doesn't take much before I feel very full! The good news is, the baby is still taking what it needs and is still growing like it should! It's funny, though...as I've lost weight, my pants are still fitting the exact same way, I guess because the baby's growth is evening things out around my waistline! I still don't feel like I'm "showing," though, which is fine, because I know in about 4-6 more months, I'm probably going to feel like a house! AND, I've been able to continue wearing all of my same clothes and haven't had to buy any maternity clothes yet! That's made Shay pretty happy! Or, his wallet, anyway! Haha!

We got to hear the heartbeat today!! I was so happy because when I went to my very first appointment, all they did was do an ultrasound to determine how far along I was and when my due date was and everything. We heard it then, at 7 weeks, 1 day, but haven't heard it since! It was such a beautiful sound to hear again!!! I can't WAIT until I actually begin to feel him or her moving around in there! Our next appointment will be on Monday, November 16 at 4 PM (19 weeks, 5 days). We will have our "20 week ultrasound" at that point. I can't wait to see the baby actually looking like a baby (the one at 7 weeks looked like a little blob-like bean), AND be able to tell what "it" is!! It's so funny....Shay is dead-set on it being a boy. He's absolutely CERTAIN! However, I kind of think it's a girl, and my mom, his mom, my cousin Michelle, and my cousin Emily all think it's a girl, too!! When the nurse that took the heartbeat today told us it was 150/151/152/151, she said that if she had to make an educated guess, she would say it was a boy. Dr. Hood agreed, too. That made Shay VERY happy! I am just pleased that it is a good, strong, healthy heartbeat! I'm not going to take any "old wives tales" seriously until I have that ultrasound next month! :) I will be 100% happy either way! And it will be nice to be able to call it a he or a she instead of "it!" :)

Speaking of which, a lot of people have been asking us about names! We've told everyone who has asked, so I'll gladly share here, as well!! If it is a boy, his name will be Barrett Bryan Wright. We both really like the name Barrett (Shay actually came up with it, and has been so happy about it, so that makes it even more special...even if it is after Barrett Ruud of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers), and Bryan is after Shay's grandparents (their last name is Bryan, which also makes it Shay's mom's maiden name). If it is a girl, her name will be Evans Elise Wright. Evans is my middle name because it is my grandmother's maiden name. Elise was my great-grandmother's "middle name" (in quotes, because we think she made it up herself), and is also my Aunt Dianne's middle name, as well as my cousin Sutton's middle name. I was very determined to use family names in naming our child, and we are very happy with what we've decided upon. And in just a few short weeks, we will be calling him or her by name, and it will just make it that much more real to us!!!

We have not taken "belly pics" yet because, like I said, I don't look pregnant yet, but in a few more weeks/months when it is much more apparent, we'll take some and post them then! I will also post our 20-week ultrasound pics when we get them!

Well, I hope those of you who have been curious feel a little more "in the loop." I'm going to go take a nap now, because that's just what I do these days!! :)

The End of Summer

Well, folks...I have 1.5 more days of summer. That's right...I have to start back to work on Thursday, and then before I know it, I'll have 26(+?) brand new faces to learn and teach throughout the school year. This summer has FLOWN by!! :) I went in for a couple of hours (okay, like 1 1/2) today to try to arrange my room and stuff. My friend Suzi said "You're home!" Hahaha...I said, "Yup...for good, unfortunately!!" Oh but wait...I'll be going to Virginia this Saturday for my cousin MaryJo's wedding, so I still have that fun trip to take!! :) Anyway, walking into my room was quite overwhelming, seeing as how everything got moved to weird places (a bookshelf on top of my counter, my really ridiculously heavy file cabinet in the smack center of my room, a stack of chairs on top of my air conditioner, etc., etc.), but thanks to JC, one of our custodians, I got the heavy things down and upright, and he even unloaded my car for me!! :) That was pretty awesome! Anyway, after I got some of the big things moved, I decided I needed to take another shopping trip to Target, so I left, did my shopping, and then ran by the library on my way home to pick up the latest Janet Evanovich novels I had on hold there! I was going to go into school for a little bit tomorrow, too, although my friends Amy and Alyson said that I shouldn't because it's our last official day of summer!! :) I think I kind of agree!! :) If I'm up early (say...around 8 AM), then I might go on over just to get a few more things situated!! The good news is...now at least I won't feel quite so "out of place" if I do wait it out 'til Thursday. I tell ya...there's just so much that has to be done in such a short amount of time before you actually have students walk back into your room!! Can be quite unnerving!! I am very thankful, though, that my school does give two full days (plus two half days) for room-work only! They don't fill all 4 days with professional development stuff and meetings...that is just one more reason why I love my school!!

Well, I think I'm going to go wash the pots and pans that are waiting in my kitchen, read a chapter in one of my books, and then I'm headed to TR to visit Bailey and Emrick one more time before I start back to school!! :)

New England

Shay, his mom, and I just got back from a whirlwind but fun trip to New England! The original purpose of the trip was to visit my brother-in-law, Weston, who lives in Danbury, CT. We ended up taking several different day excursions to various locations. Here is a short re-cap of the trip!

Thursday, July 23
Drove from Greenville, SC to Danbury, CT. I packed sandwiches for lunch, snacks, and a coolor of sodas and water, so we only stopped 2x for gas/restroom breaks! We left Man's Best Friend Pet Resort off of Augusta Rd. at 8:00 AM and pulled into Weston's apartment at 8:30 PM. Not too shabby!! :) The drive up is GORGEOUS, which is the only redeeming quality of the FOUR HOURS through Virginia. I mean, it's beautiful...the rolling green hills, the quaint farm houses and silos, the Shenandoah Valley....but it's a good thing it's pretty to look at because that is a LONG drive! :) Pennsylvania has really pretty country-side, too! Upon arriving at Weston's, he took us to Rizzuto's for some yummy pizza!

Friday, July 24
Went to a really cool park called Tarrywile on the outskirts of Danbury and hiked for about 2.5 hours...it was so pretty....the trails took us through hayfields, beside ponds and lakes, up and down some mountain-like terrain and through forests (complete with great views and tiny meadows/clearings). I felt like I was in a fairy tale!! It was exactly what I expected Connecticut to look like! :) There were even tons of other hikers with dogs!! I <3 CT because they LOVE their dogs!
After the hike, we drove down to Norwalk to see the "beach," and then back up to Danbury through Westport. We saw the Metlife building there in Westport (which is where Shay often visits on business), and Weston introduced us to the BEST grocery store on EARTH: Stew Leonard's!! It is so fun!!! It kind of has a fresh-market feel, but also sells mainstream stuff like you'd find down here at the Bi-Lo. There are puppet-like characters in the rafters around the store that talk and sing and stuff. My favorite is the trapeze-flipping lobster in the seafood section! Hehe! Anywho, they also open packages of their "home-made" stuff (fresh-baked goods, cheese made at their own dairy, macaroni salad that they make there, etc.), so that's exciting, too!! Everyone loves free samples, right?! My favorite things were their apple cider doughnuts and doughnut holes and their own kettle-cooked sweet potato chips! YUM!!! To top it all off...there's a mini-petting zoo outside at each Stew Leonard's location!! Fun stuff!! Calves, sheep, goats, chickens, and ducks. :) It was quite fun!! Word on the street is you can have a kid's birthday party there! I think that's pretty cool!

Saturday, July 25
We drove into Boston! We walked the entire Freedom Trail (starting in Boston Commons, winding 2.5 miles around the heart of the city and across the bridge into Charles Town, ending at the Battle of Bunker Hill site). It was a really neat experience, especially for the history nerd that lives inside of me!! Among the sites we saw: Paul Revere's house, the Old North Church, The USS Constitution (AKA Ol' Ironsides), the site of the Battle of Bunker Hill, several gravesites of famous Americans--Paul Revere, Sam Adams, "Mother Goose," those who died at the Boston Massacre, etc.--, and Quincy Market. After ending the Freedom Trail, we were HOT, tired, and HUNGRY, so we walked to this little tavern in Charles Town called Warren Tavern that my mom had told me about. It's in an old historical building that used to be a tavern and an Inn. The ceilings are still really low and the wide wooden beams are still visible from "back in the olden days when people were so short" (as my mom so eloquently put it!). It was also one of Paul Revere's favorite haunts back in the day! The New England Clam Chowder was a-MA-zing!! And my Thanksgiving sandwich (turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce) was the PERFECT Massachusetts meal! :) After we ate, we walked back to Quincy Market and did some souvenir shopping! :) Once we returned to Danbury, we went to the Stew Leonard's there just for fun and for dessert! :)

Sunday, July 26
The day started off as a chill-out, recouperation day (especially for Shay who had been doing ALL of the driving). We thought it would be raining all day, anyway. However, around noon, we got kind of ansy, and it wasn't raining, and Vickie and I REALLY wanted to try to make it up to Vermont and/or New Hampshire just so we could say we'd been there, so we took off and drove the 2/2.5 hours up to a little town in Vermont called Brattleboro. We originally found it because there are several maple syrup farms there, as well as a brewery in an old firehouse called McNeill's Brewery!!!!! So anyway, we went to Robb Family Farm on the outskirts where Mr. and Mrs. Robb were sitting on their front porch and were very happy to sell us authentic Vermont maple syrup made by Mr. Robb himself!! We then went into the 'heart' of town to find McNeill's. It's in an old firehouse, and they sell pint glasses with the McNeill family crest on them, so of course, I bought a couple! They brew their own beer and sell it on tap, but I wanted some in bottles with labels that said McNeill's. The bartender told us that the Brattleboro Food Co-Op (just down the hill) sells a pretty big selection, so we went, they had 6 varieties, so I bought a bottle of each! (They only sell by 22 oz. bottles...no 6-packs!) I thought the beer and a pint glass would make a pretty cool birthday present for my dad! Anyway, after we left McNeill's, we crossed the Connecticut River into New Hampshire for all about 2 minutes...just long enough to turn around in a Wal-Mart parking lot....but at least now I can say I've been to both Vermont AND New Hampshire! (And Connecticut...added a total of 3 more states to my list!) We ate at a place called the Riverfront Cafe on the Connecticut River once we crossed back into Brattleboro. Everything they served was from local farms or made from products made at local dairies, which I thought was really cool. I had Vermont Cheddar Ale soup with a tomato, pesto, and mozzarella quiche and a fresh greens salad. YUM!! After we got back to Danbury, we decided we'd leave for home the next day (Monday), and Vickie and I wanted to get some more things from Stew Leonard's to bring back with us, so we went there AGAIN! :)
(Side-note: On the drive to VT, we went straight through Springfield, MA, and we learned/saw that the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is there! Pretty cool!)

Monday, July 27
Believe it or not, when we went to Stew Leonard's the night before, they had no more kettle-cooked sweet potato chips for sale, so we had to go BACK Monday morning on our way out of town!! :) No problem, because I LOVE the place! (It has become my new unhealthy obsession....second only to Costco pizza!) Anyway, we left SL @ 10 AM and headed home. We made a short detour through Hershey, Pennsylvania. We drove through the little town to see the Hershey Kiss-topped street lights and to visit Chocolate World. We went on a little ride/tour to see how the milk chocolate is made, had a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Vanilla Milkshake, and bought some TRUE Hershey chocolate bars to bring home! :) Then, we headed back toward South Carolina. The drive back was just as pretty....but when we finally pulled in the driveway around 1:00 AM, I was so glad to be HOME!!!! :)

Overall, it was a GREAT trip! I got to see 3 more states, feed my hungry history nerd, geek-out about a brewery with my name (spelled correctly, might I add), and satisfy my sweet-tooth! :) The only thing is...I took all of 6 pictures. 2 of grave markers (Sam Adams and the Boston Massacre victims), 3 of McNeill's Brewery, and 1 of Shay and me at the Riverfront Cafe in Brattleboro. It's a good thing Vickie took tons and tons! :) When I get some from her, maybe I'll post some on here!