Ephesus, Turkey

Turkey was a pleasant surprise.

After the exhausting day we had in Athens, 

I was hesitant to hop on board to another long hot tour.

Luckily, we had a private tour of this special place that included

A/C and a funny little tour guide named Ali who sounded just like Franc from 

Father of the Bride. So even though we couldn't understand much of what he said, 

it was a enjoyable day!

My favorite part was Mary's house, where we went first. 

It was her last home and some believed she died there. 

Now they've turned it into a small chapel. 

It was a very sweet, spiritual place. 

After touring the home, we were able to see ancient Ephesus

including the Library of Celsus and the theatre where Paul preached. 

Despite the heat we really enjoyed it!

There were also some random stops at a Turkish snack shop

and a leather fashion show, where Sam and Lauren

got to be super sexy runway models for the day. 

Thanks Turkey for being so interesting! 

We hope to go back and see what else you have to offer. 

28 Weeks

Transition

Greetings from California.

Tonight I won't be posting about Europe or my pregnancy, Shocking...

We've been here off and on about a month now

and at this point I always get verrrry overwhelmed. 

The excitement from "the move" wears off and reality sets in. 

I remember doing this same thing when we got to Oklahoma. 

After weeks of unpacking and settling in you look around and think, 

wow... I'm really here to stay. 

And as much as I love my husband, I start to miss my family and friends.

Meeting people in a new place isn't the easiest. It's the scariest part. 

It's stupid really, because I distinctly remember dreaming of this time, 

my family and I in our home in California... 

but now that it's here all I can think about is the money Air Force owes us 

and the painting that needs to be done before I can start on the nursery

and the fact that we have one car and big utility payments ahead and 

 then the dull aching in my body reminds me that 

our baby could be here in 2.5 MONTHS. 

By now my anxiety capacity has reached it's breaking point. 

The grown up me needs to learn how to deal with this time responsibly 

instead of laying on the couch with ten pillows

watching old Grey's episodes over, and over, and over... 

So this is me, trying to deal with it through writing. 

Powers that be, please calm my nervous heart and give me the mental

stability to enjoy this time of transition. 

There's so many exciting things ahead and although it doesn't feel like it

I will be ready.

Right?

Lets hope so. 

Acropolis

Athens... my least favorite spot. 

I mean, obviously the Acropolis was amazing, but it was so hot and busy

that I couldn't really enjoy it. I had to give Jake the camera this time. 

He did a pretty good job, don't you think? 

Afterwards we chose to use the "hop on hop off" bus to tour the city. 

Big Mistake. 

Overall I guess dirty crowded Athens wasn't the place we had hoped it to be.

Also Athenians aren't very nice and their Kebabs were weird. 

Don't worry, the trip to Crete restored our faith in the Greeks. 

More to come...

Formal Night

My favorite part of the cruise was definitely dinner. 

After years of waiting tables, one really appreciates being served dinner,

and not just dinner, fancy schmancy dinner by a fantastic waiter named Melvin

that knows exactly what you like. I'm pretty sure my stomach expanded five times on this trip.

This formal dinner was especially exciting because most of us tried escargot, duck

 and about fifteen desserts. Afterwards we walked around the ship and watched

the sunset over the ocean. There was some cheesy posing at the bow and 

then out of nowhere the moon started to rise between the Greek Isles. 

It was really incredible. 

26 Weeks... or is it 28?

Went in to get another ultrasound today! 

Baby boy was being shy and wouldn't uncross his legs, 

which made me panic that we were actually having a girl and not a boy... 

especially when the tech says, "what gender are you having again?"

Ugh. You should know, you just did this three weeks ago! So frustrating. 

Men shouldn't be ultrasound techs. 

Meanwhile, he's still growing strong and fast and if he keeps it up

we'll be having a Halloween baby! 

Right now he's measuring at 2 pounds 9 oz and I'm feeling it. 

For the first time I'm having actual anxiety about my large belly. 

The fact that it's growing so quickly makes me 

feel like it will split open any second. 

The Cold Stone ice cream and In-and-Out burgers probably don't help.

Jake and I also got a tour of the labor and delivery wing,

Which made me feel a lot better about everything.

Just being able to visualize where we'll welcome this baby was

really special. It'll be here before we know it..

So whether I'm 26 weeks or 28 I'm going to go ahead

and welcome the third trimester with open arms. 

Actually I'm rather terrified. But it'll come either way!

So lets do this...

Taormina

If I was being completely honest, I would have to say Sicily was my favorite stop on our trip. It was our first excursion and we were told to grab a taxi from the port and drive an hour up to Taormina, a small town on the hilltop.

After some bartering we cut the price in half and squeezed into a van with a Italian driver named Giovanni who didn't understand a lick of English. He took us on a dangerously speedy drive up to Taormina where we had the best gelato and Margarita pizza ever made. It was everything I dreamt the Italian coast to be. I hope Jake and I can go back some day and spend some more time there because this trip was far too short!