Wait, It’s Been *How* Long?!

Hey folks, it’s been forever since we updated this blog. For. Ev. Er. I largely blame my husband because he wants to be a writer so I assigned him blog management to keep up with his writing. Unfortunately deadlines and motivation are a big issue with him, and because it doesn’t “have to be” done... it doesn’t happen. I’m lazy too, and since I pushed the responsibility off on him I haven’t kept up with it either. So! In an attempt to bring you up to speed... (buckle in!)

2017!

I can't write about every little thing, so you get pictures ^_^ 

This was actually Nov 2016, but that was since the last post too

Ice Castles with Alex's family

Gigi's chocolate dipping class with Aunt Sharon and Ashly

ComiCon! Or uh... I guess now it's called FanX

We met Gus and Shawn from Psych! (Dule Hill and James Roday)

Did an escape room while Julie and Matt were visiting during Matt's Spring break!

Thanksgiving Point Festival of Tulips. Always gorgeous!

With Grandma Budge! 

4th of July Balloons! (Sad that fireworks didn't happen as usual tho)

Julie had her little girl, Annie!

My family got a mysterious package with a treasure story! (Also from Aunt Sharon, we later learned)

Lisa and I visited the Stoddard's to meet Annie and we also had our HP party there!

Witnessed the eclipse!

Did another escape room again because Julie was in town for...

Lisa's wedding! She is now Mrs. Jones.

All officially married! No more Raymonds! :O

Alex and I had our traditional celebration of our Oct engagement at Cornbelly's

Halloween fun!

We did a Portal 2 theme and I was Chell and Alex was Wheatley. (See below for comparison)

Alex and I played Mary and Joseph for his extended family's nativity scene at Christmas

I had a job that lasted from the beginning of Feb to the end of Dec. it was at Vivint Solar. It stressed me. I didn’t feel adequately trained and I always felt rushed. Despite that, I did get a sort of upgrade in that I became the auditor for my team. They would put the auditors on special projects that they figured we could figure out on our own, despite not being really trained in the matter. I guess that means they trusted that we were knowledgeable enough in the company, but I often felt like I was just winging it. I left on my own with ideas of grandeur in actually cracking down on ASL practice. 

Alex was put in a data analysis position that he loved. He liked being an “individual contributor” for the Customer Success Management teams. He liked that he didn’t have to answer to anyone but 1 higher higher up. He excelled and knew all the ropes. Then, at the end of the year, they pulled the rug out from under him. They were going to consolidate the position with that of another more complicated data analyst position that would have many much more responsibilities than just the department Alex was in. They told him there were 3 positions open and as far as Alex knew, 4 people, including himself, vying for the job.  Two of the people were already higher data analysts, and shoe-ins. The other guy was the new hire Alex was still kind of training, so it wouldn’t likely be him. Seemed like Alex had it in the bag, so where’s the rug-pulling? Well there was a program the candidates had to be familiar with that the 2 other data analysts had access to, but they wouldn’t give to Alex. Then another candidate showed up. Ultimately they ended up going with an *outside* hire. So, effective immediately, Alex and his new trainee’s positions were dissolved. Alex got put in an entry level job of sorting emails, while his trainee became his team lead (Alex was told this was due to the guy’s background working with employees previously in HR). Suddenly all his equals, and even those below him, were his superiors. Alex hated it. We anticipated a possible pay reduction. 

2018!

Alex immediately started searching for a new job and hated every single boring day in the position they put him. To make it worse, his coworkers would still ask him to do data analysis work because the new data analysis positions hadn’t figured themselves out before kicking him out. He felt that if he did a really good job in the position they put him in, it was submitting to their crappy decision, and he didn't like it. I took to sending Alex gifs of silly animals to give him something to smile about on really hard days. 

On a much more positive note, Alex and I had scheduled a cruise with my parents to go to... da da da da! New Zealand & Australia!!! 

The post has the accurate sizes of the characters so you could see how you measured up. I believe I was above a dwarf and below a wizard.

The exact same photo spot of Legolas' promo shots in Rivendale

Having a drink at the Green Dragon

Gannets!

Lots of yummy food!

Apparently tourists don't count - we were not admitted. 

Sydney Opera House!

Melbourne Mission Home

Me feeding a Kangaroo with her joey!

My family is adorable.

Obviously we hit the important things - Sydney Opera House, the Melbourne Mission home (where Alex would have gone if he hadn't finished his mission early), Hobbiton and other LotR locations, glow worm caves, Kangaroo petting, and uh... gannet breeding grounds? It was a blast! We had so much fun and it was so hard to come back after so much fun!

Alex, who had been applying to many jobs, got an offer while we were on our trip! He took it as fast as they would let him. He now works at Advanced MD as a data analyst and gets paid much better than what Vivint.Solar was paying him. It's been different, and a struggle, but it's worked out amazingly!

We started a Dungeons and Dragons game with a small group of friends as well. Now I was very apprehensive about it as that, to me, is some deep nerd-ness. I didn't want to be one of "those" people... I didn't want the label. Honestly, though, it has given me such joy! I love it so much! I don't think people really understand what all it is either. I like it because it's a way to step outside yourself (to a degree) and experience new things. It's a way to story tell where we get to decide how the story goes! It's putting yourself in a "what-if" situation to determine what you would do. Instead of reading what another character that someone else has written would do, you decide yourself! It's so much fun (if done right) and I would recommend it to anyone even remotely interested or curious.

So with our little group including the Knorr's and one of our friend's siblings, we delved into the Lost Mine of Phandelver. We would meet weekly and I was having such fun I would tell my family updates about it as events unfolded. Many people, including my family at the time,  don't quite know how it works, so let me give you a run-down (skip this part if you're familiar or just don't care). 

There is a story teller person called the Dungeon Master (DM) or the Game Master (GM) who, has a previously designed world and story for you from the makers of Dungeons and Dragons, or, can even come up with their own quest and story for you (called home-brewed). They then lead you through it giving you quests and plot points. They begin a story by setting the scene and then letting you, the characters, react. For example, the DM will say, "You have just entered a darkened cave. You can hear the dripping of liquid from the stalactites and can detect a faint moldy smell. There's a dim glow probably from a campfire farther in you can't see yet. What would you like to do?" At which point, you can decide whatever you want! Whether it be to leave the cave entirely, light a torch, inspect for traps, ask for clarification or more detail, shout out, or even just, "We'd like to go farther into the cave." At which point the DM might say, "As you go deeper you see a figure sitting at a small campfire 30 feet away from you. They appear to have seen you. They get up quickly and draw a sword..." and then may pause for you to react or perhaps just continue describing what happens next. Combat is frequently a big part of D&D and can be intimidating since there is so many dice rolls and adding things from traits and special weapons, but is really quite fun. 

Each other person creates a character to play in the world, including backgrounds and motivations. There's a book with all the races and professions you can be to give you direction. You roll a dice to determine your basic skills/traits that will effect how things happen in the world. You decide where you want your highest numbers to go. When you are playing there will be situations that call for you to roll a dice to see how well you accomplish something and if your trait is assigned a high number, you get to add a bonus to your roll. For example, your character might be trying to buy a very expensive sword from a merchant. You say, "I'll be sure to spread word of your store to everyone... if you could lower the price?" The DM might then call for you to make a charisma roll to see how well your persuasion effects the merchant. If you roll high you have a higher chance of succeeding. Another example of rolling for success is handling traps, the DM would call for you to make a dexterity roll to see if you effectively disarm it. In another situation, a DM might call for you to make a strength roll to see if you can break down a locked door. Whatever you roll, the DM will describe what happens as a result and the character must make further choices based of the result, and so the story is written. 

For an example of how it's played from one of my favorite D&D groups - Critical Role, see the video below. This also introduces one of my favorite characters in the campaign, Kiri! 

So! We had an amazing DM, who got really involved and would do voices for each of the characters and gave us a good dose of both role-playing and combat. We enjoyed the campaign thoroughly. I'm playing a half water genie, half gnome bard. Alex created a half-elf rogue. Alex and I even used the Skyrim character creation to try and recreate our characters!

I also sketched what I imagined my character would look like as well. 

I'm not the best artist, but I still liked it.

Our other party members included a female dragonborn sorceress and a male human monk - both of whom were from the circus. Lastly, we had a male human paladin. Our DM and his brother had to leave when summer started so we got a new DM and Kristen's brother joined the party, also as a male human paladin. We are now in Barovia in the Curse of Stahd campaign. No spoilers if you know it! Our new DM isn't as into role-play and is crazy meta, so the group dynamic has changed dramatically, as was to be expected, but it's still good fun :). I think we're having our old human paladin who left earlier return next week as well!

Around March I got an abscess in an... uncomfortable location. I had scheduled a time to meet with my primary care physician, however the pain became too intense, and even though I'd only have to have waited 2 or 3 days, we decided to go to an instacare to get it taken care of. There they told me they'd have to lance and drain it. Ew and painful. So Alex held my hand as I whimpered through the pain while tears streaked down my face. I hoped they'd bandage it up and tell me to get better soon, but they told us I'd have to come in every other day to have it cleaned and repacked for the next 2 weeks at least. :P Yay..... The second time I came in they asked about antibiotics for me to prevent infection, so was it possible I was pregnant?

.... well... yes, actually, yes it was. 

Nothing had been confirmed however, so they asked if we'd like to do a pregnancy test while we were there. I proceeded to pee in a cup for them and went back to the room to wait with Alex - who promptly began pacing the floor. 

The doctor came back in and told us it was positive! We were pregnant! :O Alex and I went out and celebrated with pizza. How were we not supposed to tell the whole world!? In the following 2 months or so it was actually joked a couple times that we were pregnant. Still, we kept quiet for quite a long time. I had morning sickness frequently and Alex can attest that I would send him almost daily texts telling him I didn't feel good. Luckily I never actually vomited or anything, but it was a pain to play energetic and well when I really felt tired and sick. For some reason the OB had a hard time determining how far along I was, and for 2 weeks I stayed at 6 weeks pregnant. We decided to tell our family once I had an official due date, which, I wasn't able to get until we were already around 2.5 months! It is officially November 26th, the Monday after Thanksgiving. Thus, being around 10 weeks pregnant, we gave our parent's a package addressed to, "The Grandparents of Baby Solomon" and inside was a onsie. 

Then to tell the rest of Alex's family, we called Alex's birth dad and announced it (he and his wife were very happy for us), and then we visited his other Dad and announced it. I had to laugh because his Dad was so chill about it all. Hardly had any questions or anything. Alex's younger sister Kelly had teased us a month earlier about how she would babysit for us when we finally got on the ball. So then a week or so later, after telling the parents, we were having a brunch together with his sisters and Alex asked Kelly if she'd be willing to babysit for us around New Years... There was a pause and we had to repeat ourselves for his other sister, then another pause, and then we confirmed we were, in fact, pregnant.

My family was together playing a game of Psych, which is over the phone. We wanted to include the Stoddard's, who lived in Buffalo, for the announcement, so we did it while playing together on the phones. It was a long day and everyone was tired. We played a few rounds and then added another player with Alex's extra phone - Baby Solomon. Their mini profile pic was an early sonogram. I think my mom saw it first and she gasped, but she already knew. Then my sister's husband, Steve, asked who that was. For some reason people had thought it was someone else in the family playing a joke. When it was confirmed, it was in fact us, and we were pregnant, we waited for the Stoddard's on the other end to say something... but they didn't. I think we went 3 or 4 more rounds with "Baby Solomon" entering answers like, "I can't wait to meet you all in 9 months" and "November 26th, 2018." It took them a while, but eventually I got a call from them and we face timed and I answered everyone's questions.

Since then I've had a pretty mild pregnancy as far as symptoms go. I had 1 scare, when I checked my 17 week photo with my 20 week photo, and there hadn't appeared to be any change. I was worried I hadn't felt any kicks, and I hadn't had an appointment in a month. I was so sure something was wrong I gave myself Hell for 3 or 4 days fretting about it until my anatomy scan. The technician put the goo on me, pulled up the screen, and then played the heartbeat for us. I almost cried! We had a healthy baby!  Before you ask, no, we are not learning the gender until delivery! (Much to the chagrin of many people lol). The very next day the baby started kicking me finally, and she hasn't stopped since ^_^. Since I don't like calling the baby "it" and "they" all the time, we have a kind of tradition in my family to name the fetus something silly that we would never actually consider for the real name, to call the baby so we have something to reference. With family input, we've decided to call the baby Belinda, and have started saying "she." Again, we don't know the gender, but it helps in making her a human instead of an "it."

My favorite about this is you can count the 5 toes!

As of this week I am 27 weeks pregnant and Belinda has been kicking all the time! I am told a healthy baby kicks at least 6 times an hour or 10 times in 2 hours. She frequently achieves 6 kicks in 20 min. On Sunday (8/26) she had her first hiccups too ^_^

It seemed like Belinda was ages away and it was too early to get anything done, but now... I feel like there isn't enough time! We need to clean out our office room to make it a baby room and make sure the registry I've put together is actually things we need (maybe I'll put a link here when I've finally finished it). We'll see I guess...  

Update! Here is the registry: Buy Me Things!

My older sister Kristi was able to score the whole family tickets to Hamilton in April! It was great fun, and Alex, who hadn't given it much attention, loves it now, and listens to "Dear Theodosia" frequently, though I can't imagine why....

 In late April, Kristi also surprised us with a facetime call from Missouri while holding the cutest little baby! They were able to adopt again! It was iffy for a while, so there were many prayers, but now, William is 4 months old! I think I'm his favorite because he always talks to me and gives me the best smiles ^_^

Alex's family also did family pictures this year in June. I was told a dark sundress and wasn't sure what I had fit, so I sent a picture and asked. They said it would be fine, then everyone showed up in black and navy and left me as a shining beacon of pink... I could have worn a different black dress with long sleeves but I thought that wouldn't match and  make me stand out.... Still, it's a pretty good looking group! We also had a family outing to Dart Nation (I wasn't crazy impressed with the facility) where everyone gets dart guns and goes crazy on each other! We did all kinds of teams and got hot and sweaty and had tons of fun!

Also, not pictured- because Alex's family doesn't think to take posed pictures, and also because phones weren't a priority, we went on a trip to Fish Lake! We were there for 2-ish days and had fun playing Spyfall, looking at stars, and attempting to go out on a boat for fishing. Unfortunately the weather wasn't the best and it rained on us a few times, then, when both anchors and 5 people went to the front of the boat it dipped under the water and people almost began abandoning ship! I was near the front and kept my cool and just laughed, but from then on the younger kids thought we were going to capsize when the waves started rocking the boat. I felt bad for John, who helped plan the whole thing and really wanted to take us all fishing. Despite the weather, I did, in fact, have a lot of fun! Alex, unfortunately got sick and stayed in bed most of Saturday. He thought he was dying, but it was just a sinus infection. It was nice to spend more time with Alex's family. 

 As part of my birthday present this year, my sisters bought tickets for Alex and I to join them at the Stadium of Fire to see One Republic live! It was so fun! You can bet I sang loudly. 

I don't really have a picture for it, so this 4th of July morning will have to do, but my sister and her family, the Stoddard's were able to move back to Utah from New York due to a most excellent job opportunity that is exactly what they wanted! We have been playing games 3 or so times a week since they arrived in the beginning of July. Alex is even starting to miss just being at home to relax. lol

Alex's Father's Day gift. He loves whales. This is currently my lock screen on my phone.

 Alex and I were also able to have a date at the aquarium due to his work party. Since we're trying to save money for a baby, we don't really get to go out much for things like this. My feet were hurting by the end, but it was still fun!

Of course we had a Harry Potter Party, as is tradition! Julie was finally in attendance this year with all her kids as well as Lisa's new husband, Hayden, who was also able to experience the epic-ness that is what happens when Raymond girls throw a themed party. Alex and I snuck out for a tad to do Alcatraz's new horcrux themed escape room with some friends of friends for a discount, and finished in 33 min! Alex and I contributed a fair amount and we felt good about it.  Back at home, there were many sweets to be had, sorting, and game-playing.

 Betrayal at House on the Hill has been the game of choice with the Raymond sisters and we have played it many many times. We like that the game changes every time you play it. We also like that there's a player chosen at random halfway through that becomes the traitor that you must then fight against to win. Good luck if you have the Banshee though... we had no shot there....

End of July my mom's side of the family had a Budge Family reunion at Logan and Bear Lake. We did another escape room with cousins! We also went to the beach, Idaho side, and had fun in the water :) The families had rented ski-dos so Alex and I shared one and we went off for 20 min. I probably went faster than I should have while pregnant... but it was so much fun! Alex frequently felt like he was going to fall off and told me to slow down whenever I got close to 30 mph. Then when Alex had a turn on it, he wasn't as quite a natural on them as I was, and we had a jerky ride lol. We swam out deep and I sat and played with rocks with baby Annie for a while. It was fun! It's harder and harder to get together with extended family, so it was a good time for us all. We were able to visit my grandpa Budge's grave and see his house where he grew up in Paris. I was glad so many of the Budge's could attend.

I have also been going to get TMS (Trans-cranial Magnetic Stimulation) treatments for my depression. I plan on writing an entire post about it after this one, so I will link that when it's finally written, but stay tuned. It has helped me and we're hoping I go into remission, but we'll see as I'm still getting treatment. (UPDATE! Read my depression and TMS blog post here!)

Odds and ends - 

As of this August, I will have been a wolf den leader for a year. I still hate it and feel like I have no idea what I'm doing.

Alex is ward historian. As of now he still maybe wants to pursue journalism. 

Alex hasn't done any school this year (not for my lack of encouragement), hopefully he can get back into it in 2019. It's been a struggle to try and figure out what the best course of action to get Alex to a degree would be, but hopefully we can figure that out. It will be hard since he will have to work and go to school and that will not be fun. Not to mention a new little baby in the family...

ASL/Interpreting has taken a back seat to my mental health. I'm not sure what I'll do with it right now, but my therapist thinks it's good that I don't stress about it.

I've been fairly depressed the past.... long while, but hopefully I'm getting over a hump and I can get back to normal.

Alex and I both want to get healthier and lose weight. We have a membership with our location recreational center that costs us almost 40$/month that we haven't been utilizing in the slightest... we really need to exercise more. Right now I know that losing weight isn't an option, I just have to try and eat healthier. Alex, however, is trying harder to be more keto-minded. He isn't doing the keto diet per-se, but he is trying to eat more-like the keto diet suggests. He has cut back on 2 sodas a day to only soda on the weekends and is trying to drink more water as well. He is also trying to cut down on sugars and carbs and eat smaller portions. I'm proud of the progress he is making, but we have yet to weigh-in as our scale broke a few months ago (hopefully unrelated to our weight.... lol). 

Alex still plays and has fun with Magic the Gathering. Specifically playing what I think he calls Commander decks? I don't know, you'll have to ask him. He keeps up on the stories they release every week and proceeds to update me on them even though I have no idea what he's talking about. If you do MtG, send him a message because he'd love to play and discuss it with you.

I haven't been as interested in video games recently, but Alex still plays Destiny, Skyrim, Warcraft, and Starcraft. We've also started watching "The Office" on Netflix again as we tend to go through series when bored. Pretty sure in the past year we've done Psych, Castle, Smallville, and the Office already. We've also done Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings marathons. We keep up pretty well with Studio C and will be sad to see the original cast leave. We also absolutely forking adore The Good Place and can't wait for season 3 next month!

Alex started a blog for his Fanfic of Skyrim - A Tale of Two Dragonborns. It's pretty epic and you should check it out, even if you're not familiar with Skyrim. He'd love some feedback and he gets excited and tells me when he has more views. We're trying to figure out the best way to advertise it to other people so he can get more popular and hopefully get more feedback. Please check it out and bookmark it as he updates it every so often with a new section or character profile. https://winterholdarchives.wordpress.com

We connected with some old HS friends, the Mallory's, and have enjoyed seeing them from time to time in the past few months. Having and keeping friends when we're all trying to adult is hard. If anyone wants to reconnect please contact us!

Alex is wanting to get us a bigger newer car soon and has been casually looking at houses as well. I personally am not sure we could handle either financially at the moment, but I think it's good to start looking for when we actually are ready. We really want a puppy or a kitty too, and where we are right now that is not an option. Also we have yet to really determine if we can afford one after a baby. Details...

Life goes by so fast and one always imagines one has more time for blogging later, or when one feels like it. Hopefully we shall be better in the future but I really can't make any promises. Maybe once Belinda is here, I will be better at getting those updates out... but I doubt it. ;) 

Thanks for sticking with us! We love you and hope your life is going well!