I love my town!

I've been blessed in my life to be able to travel and live in so many different places. I'm 23 years old and have already lived in 4 states in the past 4 years. While living in Monterey I was drawn to the colors of the area and noticed that the town almost looked like a painting, a Thomas Kinkaid one as a matter of fact. I would constantly tell Dennis this and he thought I was nuts. Finally while walking down Cannery Row one day we noticed a little shop designated to all things Thomas Kinkaid and his work that was done in Monterey. Crazy am I? I think not. It was amazing to me that by just looking at the area I could his vision on paintings.

Unaware of copyright polocies so here is a link to a painting from Thomas Kinkaid of Monterey CA
http://www.thomaskinkade.com/magi/servlet/com.asucon.ebiz.catalog.web.tk.CatalogServlet?catalogAction=Product&productId=74312&menuNdx=0.20

Now we live in Virginia and I've noticed the same thing as I have in Monterey. We first lived in Manassas, VA for about 3 months while looking for our first home. We decided on a home in Round Hill. The drive from Manasses to Round Hill is AMAZING! As you drive your whisked away into a Bob Ross painting. Rolling hills, with happy trees. Horse farms and beautiful mansions. It's breathtaking, you almost forget your driving. Our view from our house is the same. We have the blue ridge mountains surrounding us and a lake view from our backyard. My favorite time of the day is when the sun is rising over the lake and trees. It's a beautiful sight and perfect for a photo or painting. Once we build a deck you'll see plenty of photos. :)

Growing up I was a dye hard Bob Ross fan. My brother Derek and I would watch his show every day and comment on his paintings. We would always have a running joke saying that Bob always adds one thing that looks like it's going to destroy the painting. We'd scream "NO! Why did you do that, you ruined everything" Then at the end of the show we'd see a masterpiece and comment "Oh that's why" lol Anywho the point why I'm telling you this is because not only was I right about Thomas Kinkaid, but I'm also right about Bob Ross. He grew up in Sterling, VA which is a town close to here. I'm almost positive that this is where he gets his inspiration for his paintings. Every time I look outside I think about Bob Ross, and how happy my trees are. :)

Link to an example of my view by Bob Ross
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0Cm1xD61pymPzw0C_ninR_LKYVdmxXPppFVK6H9so5OCiVucpi0nUPg7eRqq8l1tw3pqn2RZei7a6BurL5-tkF8Gh6WySrzQce6mWOdTViqDNIObk9ExfrYLg5imY2TobrLBezon6mt4/s400/DSC_0069.JPG

Annoyed and ready to have this baby.

Since I have found out that I was pregnant I have been noticing discomfort in my diaphragm area. I talked to the doctor about it once and was told it was probably pain from throwing up during the first couple weeks of the pregnancy. Last week I noticed it more and more, especially after a full stomach. I decided to make another doctor appointment just to be safe.

Sure enough my fears were becoming reality and the doctor believes that I have a hiatal hernia. This throws everything off, I have to change my whole diet and exercise routine. Mainly my diet because I was so worried that my baby wasn't getting the right nutrition that I over ate and now have gained WAY to much weight for the first trimester. In order to be comfortable the rest of the pregnancy I have to eat small meals all day long. That way my stomach won't be so bulged like it has been. I also really need to start becoming active. I haven't exercised since I found out I was pregnant because of all the nausea that I've had.

I hope and pray that everything goes smooth with this pregnancy. It's already starting out with a bumpy start. :(

Shelling!

We made it to Sanibel and it's so beautiful. I'm jealous of Dennis for being able to come here every year as a child. It's so nice to be near the ocean and have a relaxing vacation. If only this baby would let me relax. I've been sick everyday since I've been here. Yesterday I woke up with an awful headache that lasted all day, all night, and even some this morning. Then today we went out to breakfast and I ate a ton of biscuits and gravy which made me terribly sick. I am hoping and praying tomorrow i'll feel better.

One of the best things to do in Sanibel is go shelling. The shells are so beautiful here and you can find practically anything unbroken. I found beautiful conk shells but the only problem was that they were filled with either slugs or crabs. I still found an amazing assortment of shells either way. :)

Here are some photos from the trip.....

Love him!

You would think that after spending 14 months away from each other 11 hours would be nothing. haha

Dennis has been pulling extra hours at work so that we can take our vacation with his folks. He already works 10 hour shifts in order to work on the company flex schedule to have 3 day weekends. Now he's working 11 hour shifts. It really sucks because he comes home, we have dinner, and then spend 1 hour together before we have to go to bed. Plus that hour together is usually spent watching TV because we're so exhausted that we don't want to go on a walk, or anything like that. Luckily it will all be paid off when we enjoy some sun next to the beach.

Sanibel here we come.....

Turning into a grown up.

After four years of living in apartments I can finally say I'm ready to move into a house. I am so sick of living so close to people. I can literally here everything going on upstairs in my neighbors apartments. Sometimes I don't want to know whats going on in there if you know what I mean....ewww! The thing I'm looking most forward to getting away from is the LOUD music my neighbors play. It sounds like I'm at a disco, you can dance to the music in our apartment that's how loud it is.

We bought a beautiful house (kind of in the sticks) It's definitely in the country but the view from our house is amazing. The further you go outside of the city the better house you get for your money. So that being said this will be a bit of a commute for Dennis to get to work. Even though there is a commute, the route he has to take is scenic. So it's worth the drive looking at the blue ridge mountains and the beautiful homes on the hills, and vineyards. We're very excited about this move.

My favorite thing about this house is that it's big enough for a large family. Our goal was to get a final home! We've moved so many times in the last four years that we didn't want to start with a starter house and have to move as our family grew. I'm already pregnant now and plan to have more children in the future. My goal if God allows it, is to have 4 children. The neighborhood is very kid friendly and I'm so excited to raise my child here. Also the schools are fantastic!

Today I started packing for the big move, and am happy to say that we'll be out of these apartments in less than 2 short weeks! Then the fun part starts, we get to remodel. Our main goal is to put tile in the kitchen and get rid of the disgusting laminate. Painting is a must. When the original people left they left awful scuff marks all over the walls. Those are the main problems right now. More updates later in the year. I'll post pictures to my facebook once the updates are done.

We're having a BABY!!!!

Baby Arakelian due May 24, 2011

The past two months have been rough on me. The first month I found out I was pregnant I didn't blog because I was sick 24/7! I was afraid of eating because I don't like throwing up. So the genius that I am decided to stop eating. I went to the doctor and found out that I was very malnourished and the doctor said EAT!!!! I felt horrible that I had stopped eating for my own selfish reasons and realized I had to do whatever I could to get food down. I pretty much spent that whole first month eating lots of soup and crackers.

By the second month I was able to hold down foods until 5:00 pm. I had the worst evening sickness ever! I had to be in bed before 9:00pm or else I would throw up. Also cooking dinner was a challenge for me because everything smelled awful! Eating dinner was a challenge too. I still don't understand how breakfast and lunch were fine but it would take me over an hour to eat a simple meal. I also felt bad for Dennis too because, I would be fine all day and the moment he would walk in the door I would be sick.

Thankfully now (third month) I am feeling much better! I have my energy back and I don't get sick as often. I still deal with a little bit of nausea but it's nothing like before. My medicine for all of this is peppermint. It's been a drug for me. The second my stomach starts acting up I chew on a piece of gum or suck on a mint and miraculously I am healed. I love it!

Now on to appointments. My first appointment was a boring one. I talked to the doctor about my medical history and gave blood. My second appointment was the best one! It was our first ultrasound. Unfortunately Dennis had to work for this but he did enjoy seeing the photo when he got home. My third appointment I was able to hear the babies heartbeat. It was an emotional experience. The nurse first let me here mine, then moved to the babies. It was an amazing sound! I had butterflies in my stomach while listening. I don't have another appointment till November 23, and I wont be able to find out the sex of the baby till January.

In closing I have to thank God for this blessing. I was torn after our last miscarriage and so Dennis and I prayed every day for another baby. I am truly grateful that the Lord blessed us so early with another baby. Also, thank you to everyone who prayed for us during our time of need.