2 Good Things About Greensboro

After being sort of brutal to this city, I owe it an apology... After extensive research, we have found at least a couple fun things to do.

thing 1

eastern music festival

There are a few youth orchestras as part of the Eastern Music Festival that meet here for summer music camps and give free concerts of the classic pieces they are learning around the city every Sunday.  

We went to one last Sunday on the grounds of Guilford College. It was a cool campus, so the night doubled as our Sunday afternoon walk! 

In the middle of the college courtyard is this amazing structure by a famous N.C. artist called "The Hornet's Nest." This artist makes structures around the country out of all natural materials-- no nails or glue, etc-- and leaves them up for a specific amount of time before they would disintegrate.  This one was inspired by the campus and will be on display until Feb. 2012. 

There was  a huge crowd there.  It was so fantastic to see small children jumping around to the classic orchestra, dads playing frisbee with kids, and people sharing picnics. 

I love any place where we can find free, music, art all in the same place! Now that is one perfect Sunday afternoon! This sort of cultural, community activity is exactly what we love and look for.  

thing 2

Free bike rental at Bur-Mil Park

There are a few large parks around Greensboro (not the 27 we're used to in Hickory....), and one is Bur-Mil park. It is huge, and dedicated to different sports.  There are a few protected finishing lakes, hiking and mountain biking trails, a family pool complex, picnic shelters, a wildlife education center, wedding pavilion, etc. 

Dasani sponsors this park, so they have provided free

 bikes and helmets any person can check out for the day.  

I just hit the 18 week mark; I'm officially not supposed to bike or do other activities where I may lose my balance because my center of gravity is off.  I still trust myself, but we did stick to the 5-mi paved loop around  the back of the park. 

The trail was BEAUTIFUL! The trail was a good combination of up and downhill to be hard but manageable with some breaks and coasting.  We passed a few lakes, a bridge, flower fields, etc.  

We chilled with a picnic we'd brought, and Ben found a great space for us to slack line 

and throw a frisbee. 

It was a really great day.  Renting free bikes for a beautiful ride... 

How perfect is that?!?
Thanks, Dasani!

I guess we can stay. 

We are having a GIRL!

Yesterday I had my first midwife appointment at my new clinic in Greensboro, and had a great experience there. They immediately knew who I was, and gave me so much attention.  They even scheduled my anatomical ultrasound for TODAY! Just one day later! I love them!

So today Ben and I went to the Women's Hospital for our anatomical ultrasound, to check that the baby is growing and developing ok and find out the gender.  So.... Drum roll....

We are having a baby girl!

We're having a baby girl... we're having a baby girl... We are having a daughter... Our baby is a Girl... 

Our baby's cute profile.  She's an actual baby! This is so cool! 

You can't really tell in the picture, but we were told this shot is of the baby 

crossing her ankles together while kicking, which is sort of cute :) 

1st thought:

But we disagree on the girl names we've talked about so far... at least we were on the same page with the boy names... 

2nd thought:

Jackson was right.  Our almost 4-yr-old nephew has correctly predicted the last 3 babies in our family!

3rd thought:

Girl clothes are so much cuter than boy clothes.  I see a onesie with hot pink aviators in our daughter's future. 

Any name suggestions (be honest... you have them)  can be left in a comment here.  (but we still probably won't consider Hildegard or Michael, Mom.)

Homesick

I debated if I should post this or not, being generally against blatant negativity, but I figured a lot of you are in the process of moving or have already moved and could either give me advice or know you aren't alone.

So here it goes.

Moving to Greensboro went pretty well on Saturday.  We stayed almost completely on schedule (hard to imagine since we had about 1/2 hour to accomplish each task), and were so grateful to have had 8 men from Hickory ward and 4 from Greensboro available to help us.  Thank you!

h.o.u.s.e.

Unfortunately, it has been crazy since we got here.  For weeks we were living in a "construction zone" in Hickory of packing and repainting, etc, and now it's the same here.  It's hard to feel comfortable when you've been surrounded by boxes for weeks on end.  We are living in a two-story place now, and had to spend a lot of time moving furniture and boxes in and out of the right rooms and floors.  Every time I tried to unpack a certain room, I would get distracted with just trying to find something and end up moving a little something into each room, instead. Then I try to re-arrange it because Ben and I can't agree on what we like in the house. It's the slow way to move in, but I bet one day I'll just open my eyes and it will all feel magically done.

For right now we don't even have internet or cable, so there is nothing for me to do all day but try to unpack.  Ben checks my e-mail and lets me know if I miss something important, but, seriously, I can't even watch a show or check blogs to feel more comfortable?!?!?!

c.i.t.y.

It's hard to escape the house, too.  This city is huge and I don't know where anything is, and Wendy, my GPS, has a hard time finding my location when I miss a turn.  It makes me want to tear my hair out! In Hickory the neighborhood streets were complete misery to figure out, but at least the main roads with all the stores, etc, were easy and accessible.  Almost everything I needed was within 1.5 miles of our house!

c.h.u.r.c.h.

We went to church on Sunday, and I was really nervous and excited to try and make new friends.  I'd never been worried about that in previous moves, but I was surprised at what great friends I had in Hickory and how much I loved their support and friendship (especially during the pregnancy) that I'm really eager to find that again.  A few women introduced themselves, but no one was very forthcoming with me.  My first Sunday in Hickory I offered to help volunteer for a project they were working on, and was invited to a play date to meet other women within my first week.  It was so easy to jump in and meet people.  Here....? Nothing.  Yet.

s.a.d.

I am extremely confident that all will work out... eventually... because the Lord really helped us move here.  So there must be a reason.  But right now? I just feel stuck.  I feel so out of place and away from home.  I miss Hickory.  Maybe it's the pregnancy hormones, but I have never felt this homesick before!

A Moving Poem

Moving Day

It’s packing, sorting, selling time
Our house has become a zoo
What goes where, what to keep...?
My mind is full of things to do!

Time to fix the paint and clean the fridge,
Take vinyl off the walls.
But do it all on tiptoe
So the packed box tower doesn’t fall!

You may think this sounds easy
It’s only 3 bedrooms, after all.
But all I want to do is SLEEP,
Eat junk food, whine, and bawl

Because my husband’s hurt both shoulders,
He can hardly lift a thing,
And if you think that that’s bad luck
Meet my pregnant, growing belly.

But there’s a light through darkness
This move is not in vain.
Our house right now is dangerous
And we hate our neighbor, Mr. Sain.

Plus, Ben’s transferring to Greensboro
And the Lord confirmed the change.
He helped us find a townhouse fast
And all our business to arrange.

But we’ll really miss this small town,
The parks and streets that we've bragged of,
And especially the people
Whom we’ve come to know and love.

Thanks for all your friendship,
Your support, and understanding.
Without your help before and now
Who knows where we’d be standing!

For now our growing family moves
But all friends and memories stay
In our minds, forevermore
We’ll meet again one day.

So wish us luck, that’s what we’ll need
In the days and weeks to come
To move in well and find new friends
AND TO FORGET ALL THESE PROBLEMS!

Tired.

MISSING:

sleep. 

one of my favorite things.

LAST SEEN:

two weeks ago. 

thanks, Baby.

REWARD IF FOUND!

I'll give you a really big hug.  And my last Granny Smith apple. 

Happy Father's Day, Ben!

We had so much fun celebrating our first Father's Day with a child in mind!
I realized during the day that Mother's Day is about the thought and gifts, Father's Day is about the food. Thus....

b.r.e.a.k.f.a.s.t.

Buttermilk Pancakes for breakfast with 100% pure MI Maple Syrup

(A gift from his parents which we opened for the first time this morning.  Ben has really been looking forward to this!)

PS- He actually made breakfast for me! He usually has a leadership meeting an hour before church so we drive in separately, but yesterday they canceled the meeting so he came home, all dressed, and made pancakes while I got ready! Thanks, Hon!

l.u.n.c.h.

Homemade vegetable egg rolls!
We have made these before and loved them, but I couldn't find the recipe this time.  We made up our own, and it was great!

Ingredients   

• Cabbage head
• 2-4 large carrots
• Onion
• Soy Sauce
• Ginger
• Vegetable Oil
• Wonton wrappers
• Glass of water

Directions:

• Slice desired amount of cabbage across entire head to shred (about 3 cups) and put in a mixing bowl.
• Grate carrots with a potato peeler and add to bowl. 
• Thinly slice desired amount of onion and add to bowl. 
• Pour a few squirts of soy sauce and a few shakes of ginger in the bowl and stir around to coat. 
• Lightly cook entire contents of bowl in a skillet, turning for even cooking, until wilted. 
• Place wonton wrappers in front of you, add a couple tbs. of vegetable mix to the center

• Wet your fingers in the glass of water and touch against the edge of the wrapper. 
• Fold the wrapper up, on each side, and down to completely cover the inside. 

(Ben is the best at this.  If the wrappers aren't really tight, some leftover cooking liquid

may come out of the edges into the oil... bad news!)

• Drop into medium-heated oil and turn until cooked on all sides

• Enjoy!

We really enjoyed making these together and eating them outside in our backyard (before we move away from it....) It was a perfect Sunday and Father's Day activity/ lunch!

d.i.n.n.e.r.

I have been advised to gain lots of weight during my pregnancy, so I keep track of the calories I eat every day.  I have been way below the recommended daily amount, so our diet has had to adjust a little to our current... situation. 

AKA: We are no longer strict vegetarians. 

Every couple of days (still trying to keep it all in moderation...) we have meat as part of a meal, so Saturday we made a trip to the grocery store to get a pack of bratwurst and deli sub rolls for a special Father's Day dinner.  There is nothing more sad to me right now than eating just two bratwurst of a pack of 5 alone in our disaster of a house, so we were welcomed over to our friends' house for a joint Father's Day dinner!

Ben did the cooking while Adam cleaned some dishes... Nice!

We just love our great friends, Ann and Adam.  Thanks for being so welcoming and understanding to us while we've been going through all our life changes and packing mess!

HAPPY FATHERS DAY 

to the amazing *almost* daddy I married, and all the wonderful men and fathers in our lives! 

I love him!

This afternoon I got a text message from Ben he'd sent at 7:00 am.

(when I finally turned my phone on for the day.)

He wanted to tell me about something that happened on his way to work, even though he knew there was no way I'd be up or responsive that early. 

I can't explain why, but something that insignificant meant so much to me.  

I love that he chooses me to share things with, at any time of day.  

Like I'm his wife and his best friend, or something. 

I am so happy this is the man I married and am starting a family with!