day 405

friends, strangers, blogging world... hello. i have been MIA for a month and a half, but am back in business. the business of rambling and sharing random thoughts and equally random pictures. so many things to say... i'll limit them to 10. 

1. i always do blog posts about past events as if i'm writing them the day of, and it really bugs me that blogger won't let me change the date. i understand why, but i could have been in england and san francisco and had a baby and run a marathon all in one day with the way i do my catching up. so, please ignore all dates. the end. 

2. fat free milk is SO much better than any other kind of milk. really though- it just tastes... colder. and better. i'm not even a milk person, but sometimes you just need a glass of milk and the most ice cold milk you can get is fat free. 

3. i'm turning domestic. nope, i take that back. i want to turn domestic. maybe it's the pregnancy, maybe it's cos i've wanted a martha stewart autumn my whole life, i don't know. either way, all i want to do is make my own jam, cook some pumpkin bread, and recreate my teeny tiny house into something martha would approve of. can it just be fall already? can the leaves start falling and turning orange? can we start buying halloween costumes and deciding what kind of turkey to make this year? i was talking to blake about this. maybe it was someone else. hmmm, can't remember. doesn't matter. i was talking to someone and just saying how- oh! i think it was hayley. bah!!! i was saying how sad it is when we're older and the second half of the year arrives. when you're young, everything is so magical. halloween was the BEST when i was kid. there were so many children out running around with their pillowcases filled with candy, wind blowing, parents getting in on the fun- very "hocus pocus" like (classic film from the 1990s). anyway, same thing at thanksgiving- your whole family there, everyone saying what they're grateful for, eating leftovers for days. then the amazing month of preparing for christmas- baking, shopping, watching "rudolph the red nosed reindeer," reading books, and so on. 

well, now i feel like i still want to do all that or at least experience those same happy emotions, however, so many things have changed. wow, i'm really getting into thought #3. i'm sure you get my gist. i probably posted something similar to this last year. either way, i'm determined to make this year different. that's right- DE-TER-MINED. even if my house is only 3% martha, i'll be happy. i just want it to feel MAGICAL. in an adult kind of way. 

4. i have never peed so much in my whole life as i have since being pregnant. wow. a little less pushing on my bladder, baby. mummy says thank you. 

5. speaking of baby... wow. i am beyond excited to have a child. it's kind of been my ambition in life ever since my mum bought me an anatomically correct baby when i was six years old (yes, with a very realistic girl part and an umbilical cord stub). but man! there are some challenges to pregnancy. for example, NONE of my clothes fit. not that i was a fabulous dresser before, but now the ONLY thing i wear is pajama pants and large frumpy t-shirts. partly cos i don't feel "pregnant" enough to buy maternity clothes and partly cos i'm poor and don't want to spend the only 10 cents i have on a pair of pants i'll only wear for a short time. i know, i know. i will have more children thus i will wear them again. sigh. off topic slightly, when did you (to those of you mums who might be reading this) first feel your baby kick? i have yet to feel my little friend. i am only 19 weeks, but am getting a little anxious. 

6. in case you haven't heard enough about babies... blake and i went to the ob/gyn for an appointment. she suggested we take infant CPR. he was so confused. later, as we were driving home, he was like "what's infancy PR???" it made me laugh. and think about what the public relations field is like for infants. ha... ha... ha... bad joke. 

7. my sister got married. kinda awesome. kinda depressing cos now there's someone out in the world who she likes more than me. thus our "10-times-a-day" phone call sessions have been cut to "one-call-a-week-for-5-seconds-to-ask-if-you've-seen-this-movie" session. but i'm happy for her. she was a GORGEOUS bride, has a lovely husband who writes her love songs and watches law & order : SVU with her. what a guy. 

8. i got new toms. this pair is red. i love them. 

okay, i only made it to eight thoughts. enjoy dear friends, enjoy. peace and blessings as my friend tracy would say...

(blake took this awesome picture at AT&T park. nice job, honey!)

(sometimes i make him do facials with me)

(two of my favourite friends- beth and lauren. mini reunion this summer)

(she left me for heidelberg, germany. i'm thinking of having a bake sale to pay for a plane ticket over there). 

(cam took this picture for me- he knows me too well. i miss him!!!)

(seriously? do you have to be that attractive?)

day 365

our last day in europe. such a bittersweet day! we leave tomorrow, back to the real world; back to work, dishes, life, responsibilities, and so forth. as sad as i am to leave europe and go back to dishes, i am SO excited to see my husband, sleep in my own bed, and eat non-restaurant food! i have had such a fun time with my aunt, mum, and sister. they are some hilarious people!! 

today, we ended our vacation by going to hampton court palace- a beautiful palace with AMAZING gardens and a maze. to be honest, though, after experiencing the world's biggest corn maze in dixon, CA, i was a tad disappointed by the palace maze that lasted about 45 seconds and was a difficulty level of zero. but it was still fun nonetheless. 


next time you hear from me, i'll be back in the U-S-of-A!  

(this is courtney dying of heat, drinking her overly priced, gross strawberry freeze)

(brooke's walking stick she insisted on taking all around the palace)

(jordan would be so sad to see this)

(poor lora. she's a wiped out lady)

(brooke spooning peas out of her gross soup)

(starving to death, eating bread and butter. baby is crying inside for more food)

(blake's twin. this is what my future son will look like)

(i love trees)

(the horse that took us on a nice little carriage tour of the palace)

(so tired...)

i love that everything here reminds me of "alice in wonderland!"

day 364

i LOVE the rain. everyone in my family loves the rain. i refuse to ever buy an umbrella cos i love the feeling of getting soaking wet and enjoying the gloomy weather. and gloomy is a good thing to courtney. 

well, london has been anything but good-gloomy. it has been hotter than hades. i know what you're thinking- it's summer! it's supposed to be hot! england is the exception to the rule. they don't "do" hot. but this year, they've had to. 

luckily for us (and them), today was the exception. it was POURING down rain. and we LOVED it! we took the train to my old stomping ground of notting hill to visit the portobello road market. sadly, because of the blessed rain, the market wasn't happening. we did get to check out some really cool shops though, which was fun. 

we tried to make it to hampton court palace, but sadly there was no time, so instead we went to the british museum. so many cool exhibits!! i only wish i had a wheelchair and about 10% of the people there, so i could have enjoyed it more. haha! my feet were killing me and my claustrophobia was kicking in with the million people there. i think the rest of london had the same idea as us in spending the rainy afternoon at a free and well renowned museum. 

(tiny car in the window of a pizza shop with pizza coming out of the car window. so fun!)

(REALLY cool display called "cradle to grave" which explores health in britain).