10 Facts About Me

Guys, I have a confession..

..I didn't get out of bed yesterday.

I think I've finally hit some 3rd trimester wall because I am absolutely exhausted and hurt. Seriously, my body is one massive cramp right now; legs, feet, head, back, stomach.. you name it, it hurts. Okay, I'm finished complaining now..

My boss was nice enough to let me do some work from home so I got a bunch of pillows, propped my head and my legs up, grabbed my computer and a glass of choco drank (chocolate Nestle Carnation Breakfast Essentials), and cuddled with Bits while I worked on production notes. Now if only I could figure out a way to actually bring my bed to work with me..

Anyway, since I had a pretty uneventful day (nothing really to blog about), I decided to write up a little "10 Facts About Me" post. If you've been on Facebook at all over the last week and a half, you may have noticed people putting facts about themselves as their status--being the nosy person that I am (why do you think I went to school for journalism?!), I always enjoy reading these unbeknownst to me facts about friends and thought it'd be fun to share a few things with you that you may not know.

A post like this calls for a bunch of random pictures.. and what better one to start with?! Here is Baby Joey and me on his Baptism day, 1993.

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..and here I am bossing him around directing his senior pictures, 2011.

1.) I hate Burger King. Like hate, hate, hate it. I'm not sure when this started (I would eat it growing up), but all of their food smells/tastes the same to me and it's not good. The last time I had anything from BK was over a year and a half ago when Brandon got a chicken sandwich and I took a small bite of it to see if maybe things had changed. Nope. No change. Still can't do it.
I don't eat a whole lot of fast food to begin with but others that I cannot do are Long John Silver's (anything off the menu), McDonalds cheeseburgers, or Taco Bell bean burritos.

My mad Photoshopping skills.. here I am vacationing with my teenage love, Drake Bell (who is standing in place of Joey) at our Nation's Capital, 2004.

2.) Anjoyabel.. now where did that come from? If you follow me on Twitter or Pinterest (or basically anywhere), you may have noticed that my screen name is "anjoyabel." Why? Well, my real name is actually Anabel (but I've gone by Annie my entire life) and my middle name is Joy; put the two together, and you get anjoyabel (which sounds like "enjoyable," which of course I am)!

An old school camera phone pic from my friend Megan's and my 16th birthday party, 2006.

3.) I have never had chickenpox and used to want to get them so badly (did anyone else watch "Arthur" growing up? He and his sister both got oatmeal baths, ice cream, back rubs, and days off from school when they had them)! In hindsight though, I'm glad my mom had us vaccinated for them.

Jen's Sweet 16 Tea Party at the Molly Brown Palace in Downtown Denver, 2005.

4.) This may come as a big surprise to most, but I'm actually not a cat person. I always grew up around big dogs (like Great Danes and Black Labs) and have always loved them--cats are just too independent and unpredictable for me. I didn't start really loving (all) cats until we adopted Bitsy last March. We had just moved into our duplex and wanted a pet so badly (we couldn't get a dog.. or cat for the matter so don't tell our landlord about Bits) that we went to the humane society and immediately fell in love with our Bits. She is my favorite thing in the whole world and I now think that all cats are pretty great. 

How can you not love a little face like this?!

5.) I was in 4-H all throughout junior high and high school and was terrible at it excelled in all of it! I did everything from still and video photography to all different kinds of cooking. My favorite story to tell from my 4-H days was when I did cake decorating--I was the only one in our county to do cake decorating (which took a little bit of pressure off of me) but still managed to place 3rd. That takes talent, people!

One of my many masterpieces, 2005.

6.) I have to sleep with a fan on--if I don't have that white noise, I don't sleep (or I wake up every 3 minutes). 

Mamma and me, 2008.

7.) Don't ask me what the Top 40 songs are right now because I couldn't tell you. When I'm not listening to Catholic radio or to the news, I listen to CDs (primarily 90s alternative.. and yes, I still use CDs!). So if you ever need to hear the lyrics to an Alice in Chains, Stone Temple Pilots, or Smashing Pumpkins song, hit me up!

3 generations with Patrick Swayze, 2005.

8.) Onions.. ugh, onions. I'm really not that picky of an eater (besides the whole BK thing) but I cannot do onions. I'm not sure what my problem is with them but that crunch just freaks me out.. just one of my "endearing" quirks, I guess. If you ever come over to eat at our house, I can guarantee you an onion free meal!

Turin: can we bring back these looks? 2005.

9.) Growing up, we didn't have cable so we watched a lot of Disney movies, old school Looney Tunes, black and white sitcoms, and classic films. At the time, I didn't think it was so hot (I was missing out on quality programming like "Rugrats") but looking back, I can really appreciate it.

My brother and I used to love going to Blockbuster with our parents on Friday nights to rent movies--our favorites were anything Marx Brothers (we actually own all of those movies now), Ma & Pa Kettle, W.C. Fields, Lucille Ball, and Doris Day (well, that was more me than my brother). To this day, these are my favorite movies to watch!

Kendra and Annie (circa 1993 and 2013)

10.) My first ever "real" job was as a cashier at an Alco store.. I was 16 and just had to have this $400 Jessica McClintock prom dress. My parents told me that it'd be fine for me to get it (yes!) but that I'd have to pay for it with my own money (what?!).. I worked my butt off and saved for that dress and was finally able to get it! I wore it an entire 4 hours in 2007 and it's been hanging in a closet at my parents house ever since. 

For my senior prom, I opted for a $40 dress off the clearance rack at David's Bridal. 

It was a very beautiful dress.. 2007

35 Week Bumpdate

35 weeks?! Ho. Le. COW! That is really hard for me to believe!

I had my doctor's appointment this week and all went well--Jr. is measuring well and has a healthy heart beat and mamma is continuing to gain weight (finally)!

Let's bump!

How far along: 34 weeks, 4 days

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I was +15 at the doctors on Wednesday!

Maternity clothes: Same old, same old.. I may not have to wear any after all (granted, I can't zip up or button my pants anymore, but eh..)!

Stretch marks: Notta one.

Sleep: I actually had a few good nights of sleep this last week--I forgot what that felt like! I woke up Wednesday morning really peppy and upbeat (if you're my husband, parents, or a friend from high school who ever attended a sleepover with me, you know this never happens)! But alas, it was short lived.. I've been waking up several times throughout the night since to use the restroom :/

Best moment last week: Receiving babies "Poky Little Puppy" quilt and gifts, visiting my in-laws, Christmas shopping, putting the Christmas tree up, lunch with Becca, Kelly's gender reveal party.. all in all, it was just a good week!

The cutest ever, right?! Thanks again, Aunt Cheryl!

Movement: Last week, I told you all that I was going to find a .gif that described what it feels like when the baby moves.. I couldn't find exactly what I was looking for, but you should get the general idea by this clip alone:

I just discovered that these Star Wars trash monsters are called dianoga.. if I'm ever on Jeopardy, I hope that's one of the questions.

Don't ask me where I came up with this idea because I really couldn't tell you. When I could first feel the baby move, my mind just automatically flashed to the scene of this classic movie.. I mean, the baby moves around quickly in my stomach (much like a dianoga in the Death Star trash receptacle), you can't actually see him (like when a dianoga travels under the water/trash), and you never know where the little stinker is going to go next (this applies to both)! So now you know exactly how it feels when a baby moves/kicks/hiccups inside of you.

Ha. I'll have to think of a better example.. I'll plan to share an actual video of Baby Sand moving around next week!

Food cravings/aversions: Fish and yogurt (not together though).

Gender: Boy babe. 

Labor signs: Beginning last night, both my back and stomach have been cramping up pretty badly.. I don't think it's necessarily contractions (they aren't regular), but I'm definitely feeling uncomfortable.

Belly button - in or out? Refer to last weeks post.

What I miss: Sleep and not hurting.

What I am looking forward to: Christmas! We had a nice little snow yesterday, put up our tree, and wrapped gifts--I just wish baby would be here for it! 

Friday Funnies

Ah, yes.. Friday has arrived!

Is it just me or did this week go by really, really quickly?

Heck, this year has gone by really, really quickly!

I digress. Let's laugh.

I feel like I may have used this one before but it's worth a second look.

I never liked that guy!

This was me yesterday morning.

It was such a simpler time!

My "Wild" Baby Shower!

Today is the day! I'm finally sharing pictures and details from the adorable baby shower that a few of my high school besties threw for Baby Sand and me!

The idea for the shower came up a few months ago when my BFFFE (who you may remember as the MOH from our wedding!) and I were texting about baby showers.

"Eh, I don't really want to have one.." I told her (my reasoning being that I feel bad asking people to go out and spend more money on us--we were married less than a year ago and my bridal shower was last November!). But after talking for a little bit, we decided that it would be fun to have a really small, intimate shower with a few of our close friends from high school. I'm soooooo glad we did!

Without further ado, here are a few pictures from the beautiful shower!

Jen and Erin did a jungle theme for the party and it was so, so sweet! I just loved all of the blue--and cute cartoon animals!

Popcorn party favors--how cute are these?!

I just love what the girls did with the food! Erin texted me a few weeks before the shower to find out what my biggest cravings have been and that's what they served (Fruit? Check! Chocolate? Check! Yummy/Spicy Velveta dip and tortilla chips? Double check!).

We have all been friends for 10+ years now! I'm so blessed to have such good people in my life!

I needed to post this picture again, solo--only Erin could do something so cute and creative!

We played lots of fun games including a baby word scramble, gift Bingo, guess the nursery rhyme, guess the size of the bump, baby bottle chugging contest, and the Left Right baby shower game (which I had never heard of but it was really cute! The girls loaded up a box with more of my food cravings--gummies, chocolate, and a Chipotle gift card--and the person who ended up with the box at the end got to keep it all. I won!).

The beautiful hostesses! Thank you girls so much for everything--it was truly a perfect day.

Baby Sand is one lucky little boy!!

These are so fun to look back at and read--I have them all in Jr.'s memory book!

Happy Mamma.

It was such a good day and it was so nice of our group to come together to celebrate this new life! Thank you all again for everything--I'm seriously overwhelmed with how good God has been to our family and how loved Baby Sand already is.

The Tones' Big Weekend!*

*The Tones is a nickname for my dad (Tony) that I literally just made up while thinking up a title.

I'm happy to report that my dad's 50th birthday weekend was a huge success--it was very low key but we all had a wonderful time just being together! Here's a quick recap:

Saturday

• Woke up when Brandon left for work and finished cleaning, baked muffins, and waited for my parents to arrive.
• Went dryer shopping for my parents (and I'm happy to report they found one at Sears!).
• Picked up Freddy's and took it back to my parents hotel room. 
• Napped.
• Woke up when my brother arrived and visited for awhile.
• Picked up dad's DQ cake. 
• Went back to house and waited for Brandon to get off work.
• Met family at Golden Corral (the birthday boy's choice) for supper.
• Ran home to grab ice cream cake and Scattergories.
• Met parents back at hotel and sat around the pool eating cake, opening gifts, and playing Scattergories (my brother worked the graveyard shift the night before and had to work again that night so it was just Brandon, Dad, Mom, and me).

For the record, this is the only Christmas decoration that I have up so far.. but I'm hoping to change that this weekend!

Mink stole or Bitsy?

Have I ever mentioned that we're very Catholic?

Make a wish!

Opening gifts! My dad is a big coin collector so Brandon and I got him twenty of the (affordable) coins he didn't have and hid them in a bag of fun-sized candy bars; my mom gave him a beautiful gold watch with all of our names engraved on the inside.

Brandon made a comment about how he's never heard of people just sitting around a hotel pool before he met my family--that's just one of our family traditions that I love! We'll play cards, drink wine (not this time though), eat snacks, and visit.

Sunday

• Attended mass.
• {Brandon and I} Took parents out to lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant (Joey was still sleeping so he didn't get to go :/). 
• Helped load up new dryer.
• Said our goodbyes.. 
• Came home and napped (and woke up to large cat smothering me).
• Wrapped gifts and watched the Broncos pummel the Chiefs. 

Wake up call.

Dad sent me this picture when he got home.. it's too bad that he keeps his love of chocolate a secret from everyone (the yard stick of chocolate, 1 lb. Snickers bar, chocolate tools, and giant bag of M&Ms were gifts from his surprise office party on Thursday and the fun sized candy bars are what we hid his coins in)!