Graduation and Birthday

Chad and I are both now Alumni of Utah State University! We graduated from USU on May 8, 2010, it was a great day. I can't believe that we will not be registering for classes ever again! Unless of course either one of us decides to go to grad school some day... ( you just never know)

We got ridiculed a bit for going to our graduation ceremony but after it was all said and done we both really enjoyed it. It was fun to be surrounded by so many graduates and to have a time to celebrate us finishing school. Chad joined the College of Science so that we could walk together instead of me walking with the College of Science and Chad with the College of Business. It was great, the ceremony only lasted about 45 minutes and was very entertaining. YEAH US! :)

And there is one thing for sure, if you don't feel pregnant enough at 37 weeks put a gown on. They are so flattering and make you feel so slim.... ok that is false I would not suggest wearing a cap and gown when you have an enormous belly.







As for other happenings in our life, Chad is looking for a job (if anyone hears of anything let us know) and I am patiently waiting for this little girl to come out and keep me company. Chad is still working at Convergy's until the end of this week then he will start a full time job of finding a job :) And I am just hoping that I will have a play mate some time in the next week, and I would even take by the end of this week :)

It was my birthday this past Friday and boy oh boy was I ever spoiled! It was a great day! Chad had an interview down in South Jordan so I went down with him. I always enjoy drives (except maybe in Salt Lake traffic) After the interview (that went great) we ate lunch at In-N-Out it was really good. I then suggested that we could go look at the tulips at Temple Square since we were already down there. On our way Chad pulls into The Red Lion and asks if we should go check it! He had booked a hotel room for the night and totally surprised me! What a stud :) He also got me a one hour massage that I can do while I am pregnant, I guess the lady has a table that has a place for my belly to go. ( I am quite excited to use it tomorrow)
It was so fun we went to Temple Square and were inspired by both the beauty of the gardens and the power of the Spirit that was everywhere. While we were there we watch a video that was by the Christus that was all about eternal families, it was excellent I would definitely suggest going to see it if you haven't. I will give you fair warning that if you are about to have a baby girl that is what a portion of the movie is about and it may cause some tears or in my case a lot of tears :)
It was a wonderful weekend and I couldn't have asked for anything better.

This is a picture of me today... hopefully just days before she gets here :)

This ended up being much longer than I anticipated but there you go! Enjoy
Sorry no pictures from my birthday weekend I didn't take a camera for the interview.

Catch up

I finally went and bought a card reader to get the pictures off our camera! These pictures have been on the camera for almost a year.... I am really on top of it. :) So the first pictures are from the last few months in China, crazy to think that we have been home for almost one year! It is great to be home but there are a few things that we miss such as our students and the Chinese teachers.

This first picture is of me and my students right before the final performance. Just to remind you in case you forgot they were lost boys :) And I did their costumes and make-up.... I know you can hire me out for parties.
This is Chad just chillin at one of our student's house, with a stuffed monkey.
Here we are in Suzhou at a garden, Chad made friends with these old Chinese ladies that had us check our balancing skills. They were much better at it than us. You stand on one foot with your eyes closed and try to stand still. It is harder than it sounds.
Just us in China.
This picture is on a holiday trip, the holiday was Dragon Boat Festival. (if you look close, you can see a gigantic Buddha behind my head)

It isn't official until Saturday but Chad and I are graduating! We are both done with all final papers, projects, lessons, and tests. And man does it feel good! Now it is on to the job search...
It is a pretty crazy feeling of not knowing what to do next. I guess just wait for this baby to come. Which is getting harder and harder to wait for. She is due May 24 and not showing any signs of coming early, dang it. Last week at the doctors office I was 80% effaced but not dilated at all. So this morning when we went I was sure that I would at least have started this birthing process.... but surprise nothing. Still not dilated at all. oh well I guess I just have to be patient.

Here are some old pictures again.
This was our last Aggie Basketball game as students. Luckily they won :)


Here is a picture of me today... Yup getting huge. Or as Mike would say "getting very round"
These next few weeks are sure to bring some big changes.

Coming to an End.... Or a Beginning

The semester is coming to an end, there is only 3 more weeks of classes left then finals week. And neither Chad nor I have a big finals week so it is only 3 more weeks! I can't believe it.
We have been staying busy, Chad with many many group projects and me with teaching. Chad is often found at the library working on one of a million group projects or at work. He is always so busy. Me well I mostly have it pretty easy, just go to school and exhaust myself them come home and sit on my duff. :)
This past week was my spring break so I lived up the doing nothing factor. I think the only productive thing I did was make a bow. But it was a great week. Monday I had a bit of a surprise, I was cleaning then got a little dizzy so I sat down but then got thirsty so went to the fridge to get a bottle of water but then the next thing I remember is waking up on the floor about 10 feet from the fridge. So that was fun. I went to our bed to lay down and called Chad a bit scared. So he came home from class and spent the rest of the day taking care of me. It was a great way to spend all day with your husband, just scare him :) I was scared that I had maybe fell on my belly or something but she was moving lots the rest of the day so I'm pretty sure that she is ok.
Other than that it was a great week!
It is pretty crazy to think that both of us will graduate in a few weeks but I can't wait for it and then a few more weeks and our sweet baby girl will be here! Here is a quick picture of my ever expanding belly.
Can't wait for the baby girl to get here :)

Updates

I don't update my blog very much because I don't take pictures of anything, and I feel like if I don't have a picture to post then I can't post about anything. But here I am breaking the mold, posting with out a picture. Sorry.

I have been student teaching out at North Cache 8-9 center teaching Pre- Algebra and helping out with Algebra 2. It is a blast, I love it. I teach 2nd and 3rd hour Pre Al to my 8th graders then my teacher teaches the rest of the day and I just help out when I can. I will be taking over 5th and 6th hour at some point but I don't know when that is.
My classes are really funny, 2nd hour is pretty quite it is still early in the morning so they aren't awake yet but something magical happens in the 5 minutes inbetween 2nd and 3rd hour. They all wake up and are very talkative. My 3rd hour often gets distracted by my belly. I can see them all just staring at my belly in amazement. I know it is getting bigger everyday but just focus on the assignment/notes :) Twice it has happened that I was in the middle of teaching and someone just shouts out "What are you having again?" and then "What are you going to name her?" from that point on it is almost impossible to get then back on topic.
There are some hard days but overall it is awesome, the kids are so funny and at least seem like they are understanding what I am trying to teach.
One funny story, we had a three day weekend last week and on Friday I asked if anyone had plans for the weekend and it was 2nd hour so no responce so I said that they should all be rested up for class on Tuesday then Savannah said "I am going to have a hang over on Tuesday." This is a very good girl not someone I would expect to have a hang over, after asking a few more questions over my laughing I realized that she doesn't actually know what a hang over is. She was just referring to still being tired on Tuesday because of the long weekend, or something to that effect. But it was really funny.

As for Chad he is busy busy busy. He is again taking 20 credits so that we can both graduate in May! (Yahoo!) But that 20 credits is not so fun right now especially the classes he is in. In all of his classes he has a group project that keep him at the library almost every night.
Sometimes I go with him just to make me feel like I am still in school but I usually just end up sitting out side of his meeting waiting for him to get done so we can go home.
Although he has hard classes he is of course doing amazing in all of them and impresses me everyday with how much he does and gets done each day.
He is also working at Convergys as the HR intern, which is a great opportunity to practice what he will be doing after graduation. I am so proud of him :)

As for Baby Girl. She is growing everyday and getting stronger. We went to the doctor is past week and were told that everything is perfect. We are so blessed to have a healthy baby and to have everything be going so smooth. Hopefully it will continue in this same trend for the next 13 weeks or so until she comes. She likes to move and flip around which is ok most of the time except for when she takes a liking to my back muscles then its not so fun.

Overall life is pretty great and we are excited for May to come for graduation and this little baby girl! Again sorry for no pictures, I really feel bad about it.

It's a Baby....

Girl!
Last week we had the opportunity to go and find out that we have a very healthy baby girl coming our way.
It was an amazing experience, I am so grateful for the technology that we have to be able to see our baby to know that she is growing just as she should and that she couldn't be more perfect.
Our ultrasound tech guy was so great, he was so kind and knowledgeable about the equipment he was using and helping us see our baby. I know this is probably sounding really mushy but I am so grateful for people who spend their lives studying the human life and growth and using their skills to help me see my baby to tell me that she is growing great.
It took so much stress off my mind and made both of us much more excited for May, I really can not express enough how happy I am to hear that all of her major body parts (heart, kidneys, bones, brain, lips...) are all fully developed and in peak condition.

So in conclusion (as if I haven't said it enough) I am so grateful to live in this day and age so that we could see our baby and know that she is healthy and well.
Also we are more then half way done with this pregnancy! I am 21 weeks along and everything is going great. I haven't thrown up for about three weeks now and am starting to get energy back and my stomach isn't too huge yet :)

As for an update on Chad, he started classes on Monday and is ready for another semester of school. He is still working at his internship at Convergys and loving it. He is great at taking care of his wife and making me so happy, I am so lucky to have him forever!

Happenings

The end of the semester is creeping up closer and closer... it is apparent in the weather, amount of school work increasing, and my lack of drive to do any of it.
I have about 3 different projects that I need to complete before finals week and all of them are at step 0 (haven't started), and it is getting more stressful each day that I put it off again because then I have even less time to finish them all.
Oh Well. :)

Other than the final projects Chad and I are just keeping busy with school and work. I am starting to feel a little bit better, there was a 3 day streak where I kept all my food down.... the only bad thing is that it only lasted 3 days.
But as of yesterday I am past the first trimester so that means that I should be instantly better now... not completely true.

When the cold weather starts the ability and desire to do/go to school drops about as fast as the thermometer, it's just hard to do school work when sitting at your kitchen table with shoes and coat on then all the sudden your fingers can't bend cause they are frozen. Not so productive in studying.... #1 downfall of living in a trailer..... so so so cold....also being so so so cheap to not turn our heater up :)

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas, and we can't wait! Yet another factor playing in on the distraction away from school... Christmas time is no homework time.
Also it is almost Chad's Birthday.

That's all my random comment squished into one post.

Love,
JoAnna

Get Better Soon Red Ranger

My little brother is going through a tough surgery right now and just wanted to give him a little shout out and to tell him to come home soon.

Here are a few pictures of him and his awesomeness.

We Love you Dallin Paul Whitney Smith Osborn. Come home soon.

This picture is when we found the Red Ranger in China.... I couldn't pass up the opportunity to get a picture with the Chinese Red Ranger.