It's the Most Busiest Month of the Year

Do you see those eyes? Those eyes mean trouble. The last few days have been terrible in Persie-ville. She has been looking for any and every naughty way to get my attention. And she knows just the places to go afterward so that she's just out of reach of my wrath (i.e., under the couch and behind the tree). Is it crazy for me to think she may sense a big change on the horizon? And yet, as I type this, she's sound asleep right by the monitor. Of course.

This is a crazy month for Johnny and me. Not only are we frantically making our final preparations for a baby to arrive, but it's also Christmastime, AND every single weekend is booked until the week before Baby Girl is set to arrive.

I had an appointment earlier this week, and afterward I scheduled the final 4 appointments of my pregnancy! What! We've got less than a month to go. And I'm not saying I'll go early, but the doctor said she doesn't think I'll go late. Eeek! Who knows, though, I might be lamenting my pregnant belly at 41 weeks.

I know lots of moms-to-be get super antsy toward the end for Baby to just come already, but I am happy waiting as long as possible. Maybe that sounds nuts, but just imagine being in charge of a baby human! I don't think I'll ever feel ready.

Thoughts and Persie

I cannot believe it's November! Time has been flying. I absolutely love this time of year---I know, super original. Seriously, though, I get so excited when this time of year rolls around. Before I get to the meat of this post, here are some pictures I never got to share of Persie. As we packed up our NYC apartment, it was as if we were creating all the chaos just for her---an obstacle course of sorts. I would find her in all kinds of places:

Johnny and I are really loving Boston. I can tell Johnny loves his job. He is still doing copywriting, but of a different kind than he did at DDB. He is working for a major political campaign based here in Boston. It is fast paced and high stress at times, but he really enjoys it.

Being out here feels so natural and right. I can't get over what a beautiful city Boston is. As I've finally begun exploring, I have been shocked by how unique and charming each neighborhood is. So many areas are so picturesque.

Because of Johnny's new job, we won't be taking any vacation days for the next several months, so for the first time ever Johnny and I will be spending Thanksgiving and Christmas with just each other! I know this may seem weird, but I'm really excited! Of course, we'd rather be with family, but I think it will be fun to make our own little traditions. I just ordered groceries, and our stuffing, rolls, and pie will not be homemade on Thanksgiving :) That still leaves me with the turkey and a few other side dishes that I'm sure will be plenty overwhelming!

Stay tuned! My sister and her husband recently visited, and I'll be posting more soon!

Ramblings

Aside from BYU barely losing to Texas, this weekend was pretty great. Is there such thing as a bad weekend? I don't think so.

I continued working on my crocheting project, and Johnny got his yearly fill of 9/11 specials on TV. We were both relieved that the weekend came and went without incident. Late last night Johnny and I walked up to the Great Lawn in Central Park to see if we could see the 9/11 memorial lights in the sky. It was a super cloudy night, but we could still make them out from 5 miles away. I think the memorial site is beautiful. I love the fountains, and I can't wait to go see them next week with Johnny.

Tonight is another GOP debate. Johnny and I love debates of any sort. I'm sure that aspect of our personalities attributed to our very argumentative first year of marriage. And it's partially why we get along so well now!

Speaking of being argumentative, Johnny and I have an ongoing battle with Scrabble. It's one of the only games that I actually beat Johnny at sometimes. Last game, I beat him, and that score has been up on our cork board for a few months now. This morning Johnny walked past it and said, "Hmm. This Scrabble score is still up." Seemingly harmless comment, right? No. I feel a rematch coming on this week, maybe even tonight. I'll let you know who wins...

p.s. Poor Persie... she can only resist yarn for so long...

Persie + Yarn

Persie loves yarn. It's hard for me to crochet or knit because she can't help attacking the ball of yarn. A few days ago, we decided to let her play to her heart's content, and this was the result:

Persie's New Trick

Persie loves cheese.

Recently, I decided to try to use cheese as a motivator to get Persie to stand on her hind legs. It only took a few times before Persie knew just what to do to get herself some cheese. 

This sight is now a daily occurrence in the Galbraith household.

What's wrong with our cat?

Well, Johnny has a new toothbrush since Persie took a sudden interest in his last night. It was already too late by the time this video was recorded, so we decided to let her have fun with her new toothbrush.

BYU vs SDSU and Scrabble

So this weekend was great.

I wish it weren't over. On Saturday Johnny woke up bright and early in anticipation of the BYU vs SDSU game. He said he felt as excited as Christmas morning. Oh boy. We watched the game with our friends the Hardings and the Laidlaws, and Angie fixed us delicious barbecue sandwiches and mac and cheese for lunch. We were so nervous/excited about the game. And then we won!!! All of us were very happy people (especially the husbands).
 

I forgot to take a picture of the Laidlaws.

Johnny and I wore the shirts he made!!

Sunday was another fun, relaxing day. On Sunday night Johnny and I decided to play a friendly game of Scrabble, and Persie insisted on being a part of the fun.

 Hahaha. I really don't think she knows she's a cat.

A Taste of Spring?

Just when I think I can't take the cold anymore, I see a forecast like this:

Yessssss. Tomorrow and Friday I will be running around the streets of New York with a look of pure joy on my face. In fact, I was doing that on Valentine's Day because a) it was Valentine's Day, and b) it was 54 degrees out. Weather does affect my quality of life. It's a fact.

I sent the following pictures to Johnny this week:

In the first one, she was like that for several minutes, just gazing at the happenings in the street below. What a funny little girl. The second one, I don't even know. I'm just glad I had my camera right there.

Valentine's Day was lovely. Everything about it made for a perfect evening with Johnny. He's pretty great.

Brrr!

How is it already nighttime?? This day has flown by, and I still have so many things to get done. I gotta make this quick because I promised myself I'd have the apartment clean before Johnny gets home from work.

• The above picture is a still-shot of the birthday video we did for our niece Violet who turned one last week. Persie's a really good sport.
• It's been suuupper cold here. I hate cold weather. Yes, hate is a strong word, and I'm still using it. Not sure why, but I still haven't gotten around to buying tights ever since I purged my wardrobe of them after working for the LDS church one summer. Therefore, on the way to church yesterday, I suffered immensely.
• Because of said cold weather, I've been watching more shows. For a while now I've been in love with Parenthood. And then last week they played two Azure Ray songs in one episode, and I became even more obsessed.
• As soon as Johnny gets home, I get the TV turned to Jeopardy!, and last week I was pretty impressed with our skills (except for the category on spiders...stupid).
• I really, really appreciate good friends. My favorite night last week was when I went to Angie's and she fixed us an amazing dinner and, as our husbands whittled away the hours at the office, we watched the fourth HP movie together. Perfect, nerdy, relaxing night.
• This Wednesday is the BYU/SDSU game. I'm freaking out. I can't wait. I'm scared/excited/nervous and whatnot. Weeee!

That's all. Have a happy week!

Winter

Last Friday we had a few inches of snow, which promptly melted, but my view out the window did look like the above picture for a few hours. We are supposed to be getting a rather hefty load of snow tonight. I'm excited---anything to mix up the dullness that is January. Although, so far we have managed to keep things somewhat interesting around here.

• We got a Costco card from Johnny's Grandparents for Christmas, and, feeling extremely ambitious, we decided to take a duffel bag and backpack and make the trek to Costco via bus last week. The thought of the walk and bus ride home left our minds as soon as we entered that magnificent store, and we bought whatever we felt like. Somehow we stuffed almost everything into the backpack and duffel bag, both of which weighed like 50 pounds (not exaggerating), and Johnny carried both. I carried canned cat food, chips, and bread (which was harder than it sounds, people!). We walked the 4 blocks to the bus stop. Waited half an hour for the bus. Rode the bus. Walked the 4 blocks home. It was mind over matter, and Johnny's whisperings of, "Okay, 3 more blocks . . . 2 more blocks . . ." were all that kept me going. I'm sure we were a sight to see. I have never been so happy to arrive home.
• I managed to catch one of our kitchen towels on fire, and Johnny walked into the kitchen to find me precariously transporting a towel all aflame to the sink.
• I'm rereading the Harry Potter books. When I am too engrossed, Johnny gets my attention by reading aloud over my shoulder in a British accent.
• We've been religiously watching/listening to all the BYU basketball games. This is the best I've ever seen our team (ranked 10 in Coach's Poll right now!), and Jimmer is so fun to watch. It gives us something fun to look forward to a couple nights a week.

That's about it. As I write this, I can hear my landlord talking loudly in his office, which shares a wall with our apartment. A couple days ago, I heard him saying, "fuhgeddaboudit, fuhgeddaboudit" and all I could think was, "Huh, people really do say it like that."

Lastly, I will leave you with a picture of Persie, the balancing cat.

Back to Life

Johnny and I arrived back to our apartment last night. We were supposed to get back on Saturday, but our flight was canceled, so we ended up spending another day with my family. I video-chatted with them last night, and I already miss them. 

I can't begin to tell you how great it felt to get back home. Even if our apartment is small, it is home. Johnny said it felt like we'd never left.

Our cat, Persie, stayed with our friends Pat and Lindsay, and it was fun to see her after so long. Today she has been rather clingy, and she hasn't allowed me out of her sight. Haha. It is really cute. Lindsay sent me some great pics of Persie while we were gone.

I went back to my natural color while in Alabama. The first few inches of my hair weren't even dyed, so I think the color is spot on. It might not be as stunning as being blonde, but for right now I am just relieved to not have to worry about roots!

I am excited to plan out some resolutions for the new year as soon as I get my life back in order. Johnny and I are back to work, our refrigerator is empty, and I have about a million thank-you notes to write, but it feels great to be back home!

My Two Besties

As I'm fixing dinner, my two favorites are zonked out on the bed.

p.s. Christmas in 8 days!

Jan and Tom's Visit: The Met

Johnny's mom and granddad arrived late Thursday night. We stayed up and waited for their arrival, although Persie had to take a little nap on what would be Tom's bed.

On Friday Johnny and I had to work, but on Saturday, we all went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art together. It is about a half mile walk from our apartment.

I had not been back to the Met since last summer, and I had forgotten how great it is!

Johnny and his mom waiting in the entrance

Jan and Tom

Johnny and me

The Roman/Greek stone sculptures always amaze me.

Johnny

one of my favorites

lamp post from 1900 NYC... I wish we still had these around the city!

We were all pretty exhausted after the Met, so we went back to the apartment and relaxed. On Saturday night, we all watched the BYU football game together, which we FINALLY won. Stay tuned for more pictures from our adventures with Jan and Tom...

TGIF

Remember when abc had TGIF and Sabrina the Teenage Witch and was on? Those were the days. Currently, I am waiting for the delivery man to bring us Chinese while Johnny runs to the bank and gets some cash. You want to see what I look like right this moment? No? Okay, I'll show you:

(I added Persie for the cute factor.)

Yes, I am tired. It was a long week. I have a confession: I did not even get ready today. Eek, you just learned I'm not perfect all the time. Hopefully, I've made that clear in my blog. I've been following this one blog lately--not anyone I know, just someone I've met--and I am going to have to stop following it because it just makes me sick. The person makes her life sounds so perfect and wonderful and ideal. And then complains about things that other people would dream of having. Ew, ew, ew. So, to avoid negative thoughts, I have removed it from my Google reader. Enough of that. Some thoughts for the week:

• Johnny worked late almost every night this week. The weekend could not come soon enough!
• I made those chocolate chip cookies that I gushed about in my previous post, and YES, they were as amazing as I remembered. Recipe coming soon.
• Tomorrow is another BYU game, and I am very excited!
• Johnny just told me I am more addicted to the computer than he is, so I should get off and eat some cheap Chinese take-out with my boy.

Ta-ta!

Persie Hard at Work

Sometimes it's hard to get work done with this little booger trying to get in on the action:

More Pics of Persie

I don't feel like I've done our little kitty justice, so I thought I'd share some pictures of just how adorable she is.

proof that Persie gets tired...She resists sleep just like a little toddler does.

When Persie saw me taking pictures of her, she had to get up close and personal. Here she is grabbing the wrist band that dangles from the camera.

Persie has the whole bed to lay on, but instead she chooses Johnny's satchel. Here you can see the stripes on her tail, which I love.

Persie has her eye on the camera's wrist band again! Oh dear...

We are having fun with her. I swear this won't become a blog where I only post pictures of our cat!!! She is a great little addition to our new New York life, and I just wanted to share her cuteness one last time!

Our Pet Persie

Hello, All! I would like to introduce you to the newest addition to our family, Persie! We adopted her on Friday, and she is quickly becoming acclimated to her new home. She is two months old and quite a cuddler. She is laying on my lap right now.

Now, on to how she got her name: At first we wanted to call her Yankee, but the name just wouldn't stick. It didn't fit her. Then we had this little number happen (see photos below):

These photos were taken after Persie devoured an entire can of cat food. She would not even let me get it out of the can. Why? Well because she refused to eat anything for the first 24 hours we had her. We were quite concerned. We tried five different kinds of food and she would not touch them. Finally, I tried the very first one again, and she DEVOURED it. Apparently she likes salmon and nothing else. And so, we named her Persie, short for Persnickety. We love her. The End.