The BIG Reveal!

The news is nearly completely out!  We have waited so long to tell, and have waited so long for this to happen to us!  I will save you the suspense:

WE ARE HAVING A BABY!

Baby Owens (or Baby "O" as I have come to affectionately call it) is due to arrive sometime around July 17th, 2010.  Which means we are about 11 weeks along in this ride.  This news has leaked out slowly amongst our co-workers and friends, but we had sworn them to secrecy until Christmas day when we would tell our parents.  Now, both sets of parents know and they have done their parts to let the news spread like wildfire through our respective families.

We have had 2 OB appointments so far and at the last appointment we had the opportunity to see the baby move!!  It was amazing!  We were thinking we'd just get to hear the heartbeat, but we got a bonus circus act!  Baby "O" is already a mover and a groover! 

In the meantime I am doing everything I can to fight off the nausea.  Instead of having Morning Sickness, I have Evening Sickness.  I fight nausea all day long, but it seems to attack me hard from lunch time until I go to bed.  Everyone says it should be on it's way out in a couple weeks, and oh-help-me-Lord if it is not! It has really taken over my life!  I had heard about new mommies-to-be having utter exhaustion, but this has not been a problem; I only sleep to ward off the nausea.  I also have lots of gas (any help here?).  Otherwise, the pregnancy thus far has been uneventful and healthy.

We are looking forward to the January appointment where we will get a "Sneak Peak" ultrasound to try and find out if we are having a girl or boy.  We have lots of questions:  will it be hairy? will it be tall and thin? will it have bright blue eyes?  will it have blonde or dark hair?  or red hair? and so on...

Needless to say, we are thrilled.  Our families and friends are thrilled.  We have put on our seat belts and have been instructed to hold on tight!  Here comes the ride of our lives! 
A pic of the first ultrasound and heartbeat...doesn't look like much at this point!  Baby "O" is 6 weeks here:

(Belly pictures to come when there is some noticeable change)

Christmas Joy

Christmas time is a wonderful time of year for fun and fellowship with friends!  When we first moved to Benton, I had my doubts as to whether or not we would make friends to celebrate holidays, birthdays, and simple Friday evenings with.  Thank God, I was wrong!  This past Saturday, Josh and I were guests at an ornament exchange Christmas Party with our friends Stacey and Jarrett, and Ashley and Lathan.  We had awesome food and beverage, but the best part was the conversation and laughter!  And the ornaments were unique and beautiful!  It is so nice to have friends with whom to share holiday cheer...Merry Christmas!

The beautiful blown glass ornament from Stacey and Jarrett

Adorable German Market Santa snow-woman from Ashley and Lathan:

Me, Ashley, and Stacey

O! Christmas Tree!

I Love Christmas!!!!  But I really love all holidays, so I wait until the Thanksgiving holiday is over-and-done before I put up ANY Christmas decor.  It is a pet-peave of mine that Wal-Mart and other stores begin their holiday displays four months early, it makes us wish away our year.  Why can't we just enjoy the seasons and holidays as they appear, enjoy them fully rather than being tired of them a month before their arrival?!  Anyway, I will step off my blog soap box now. 

Ahem.  I LOVE CHRISTMAS.  We decided this year to invest in a new Christmas tree since the one we've had for years was a free hand-me-down that had a few bald spots on it!  Plus I am getting lazy in my old age (hehe) and wanted a pre-lit one, at the insistance of my mom and several friends.  So, we went looking for the perfect, last-us-10-years, tree.  Of course, Josh and I had differing ideas on the perfect tree.  I wanted a slim, trim, 7-8 footer to put in our dining room.  Josh wanted a 12-15 footer (he would cut a hole in the roof if he could!), to put somewhere in our living room.  I was sceptical on this as we really don't have room in the living room.  We really don't have room anywhere! 

Long story short:  Josh won.  Well, the tree won me over really. It was beautiful, tall, enchanting in the store, and everything I felt like a Christmas tree should be.  The price was also not too bad (about the same as the 7.5-footer I had looked at).  Josh was in love, almost as in love as he is with the hunting channel.  It was quite strange, but I love that look in his eyes and I only see it with guns and hunting!  Ha!  So we bought the 12-footer.  So easy to set up at home, too...the hardest part was decorating past the 7 foot point!!  I'm tall, but my Go-Go-Gadget arms don't reach to twelve feet (that's for you, Linds). 

Final product below, and a bonus of Oscar and me!  He likes Christmas, too.

Turkey Day in Texas

This Thanksgiving, Josh and I drove down to Texas to see my family. It is my brother's Freshman year at Texas A&M and he is in the Corps of Cadets. They do marching and yelling at the football games (I know this is simplistic, Wes, but bear with me as I am an idiot with it all). Our first stop was at the Texas A&M campus to see Wesley "step out" and then get harrassed by upper classmen, then march onto the footbal field for the Texas A&M vs University of Texas game. This is a huge rivalry game and we were very fortunate to get tickets. We met my mom and sister, and my Aunt Angie and cousin Hunter. We had seats in the nosebleed section, but honestly they weren't bad! The only problem I had was not knowing a darn thing about football! So I was slightly bored with the game. Thanksgiving dinner was delicious! Mom cooked a traditional dinner with all the works and I ate it up like it was my last meal! It was such a nice visit, the only thing that would make it complete was having Dad there. Luckily he will be home from Iraq around December 10th. While I won't see him at Christmas, it comforts my heart to know he'll be home with family. Until the next post, here are pics from the Turkey Day Weekend:

Really don't know what to say about the above pic: someone brought mustaches and told me to put it on.  So I did.  This doesn't mean that if they all jumped off a cliff I would follow, but this seemed harmless!

More pics to come once I get them from Mom...

Do 2 halves make a whole?

Yes, in normal circumstances, 2 halves make a whole. But, I have now run 2 half-marathons and I can say that they do not make a full marathon! (and I don't know if they ever will!) My most recent race took place in Clarksville, TN, this past Saturday. My best friend, Lindsy, and her running partner, Courtney joined me on this race. My goal for this race was to finish in less than two hours. I truly thought I could do it, given that the temperature was nearly perfect and I didn't think that the course would be too hilly. Weeelllllllll, the course was pretty much ALL hills! (refer to a previous blog posting during my triathlon training to get a true sense of how I feel about hills: I HATE THEM) AND the weather was beautiful, but it was oh-so-windy. We had a headwind for at least 75% of the race...can we say wind chapped??? Needless to say, conditions weren't perfect for me to make my goal of less than 2 hours. BUT, I shaved nearly 5 minutes off my first half marathon time so I guess this is good! The thing is, I couldn't have pushed any harder. Thank you Linds for running with me and for pushing me hard to the end. I know we didn't make our goal, but there is always next year! Speed work, here I come! Unfortunately, poor Courtney became sick early in the race. She is such a champ, though, and FINISHED the race, and finished it in an awesome time of 2:25!
Mine and Lindsy's time: 2:05:26

Also, we ran with some new running buds of mine from Benton: Ann and Cheryl. They are two hilarious running sisters, and ran with Linds and I the entire race. It was lots of fun!

Here are some pics (the ones from the event say "Proof" all over them!):

The Start of the Race

Trying to be Charlie's Angels while Running

Finally Finished!

Lindsy, Kennedy (future runner), and me

YAY Courtney made it! She looks great but felt bad.

Best Friends, cleaned up and ready for a fun night out and a pitcher of margaritas! YUM!

A Fine Fall Day

October of 2009 has been one of the wettest months on record here in Kentucky. This has really put a damper (hahaha) on harvesting the crops. Now, I am no farmer and I know nothing about the profession, but I do know that when the ground is saturated and/or flooded it is nearly impossible for farmers to do their job. Just as soon as the month changed to November, the rains stopped and the farmers could get back to their crops. On November 1st, Josh drove me out to Hickman, KY, to see the farmers hard at work, rushing to clear the fields. It was quite a sight to see: nearly every field was adorned with farm equipment. The crop of choice this year: soybeans. The water you see in the pictures is due to flooding, and is not a river or lake.

They did the Mash

They did the Monster Mash
The Monster Mash
It was a Graveyard Smash

This year was the Owens Family First Annual Halloween Bash. Josh and I had always wanted to have a Halloween party, but never really had the room. We've always had the friends, but where to put them?! Well, now that we have a basement we decided that we had the room, we just had to find the friends in our new town! (Just kidding! We've really made friends quickly since we have moved down to Benton) And we finally have the time (amazing!) so we put together what he hoped would be the party everyone looks forward to year after year. I can't speak for everyone else, but I know I am looking forward to the 2nd annual Halloween Bash already! Check out some of the pics from the event:

(Note: Prepare yourself! Some of the pictures are “special” and the costumes “scary”)

Basement-Before the Halloween Makeover

Oscar's already ready for the party!

Dorothy and Toto

Oscar Meyer Wiener

One of the food tables!

Taste-testing the Witch's Brew

Let the Costume Party Begin!!

80's Rockers (Lathan and Ashley)80s Redneck and Cleopatra (Jarrett and Stacey)

Strawberry Shortcake and Pimp (Melissa and Thomas)Ceiling Fan and Nudist on Strike (Lauren and Jon David)Swine Flu and Ms. Piggy (JP and Ashley)Tigger (Lois), Dorothy, Bad Witch (Carol Ann) and Betty Rubble (Sheila)Batman and Cat Woman (David and Hollie) Octomom and Dog the Bounty Hunter (Nicole and Tony)Pirate and Witch (Susan and Jami)Characters from V is for Vendetta (Jenny and Clay)

Pharaoh and Cleopatra (Mark and Jessica)Dorothy and Pimp DaddyRichard Simmons and 80s Aerobics Instructor (Jeff and Christy)Cowboy and Saloon Gal (Dan and Heather)Spartans!! (Bill and Alesha)

Baseball player and Umpire (Terri and Billy)

Rodeo Clown (Jay)

Girls that workout at MegaGym

A Movie Theater Match--we should have been cast for Wizard of Oz!BEST COSTUME WINNERS!

Some of the Group (some had already left)All-Night Party!

We had SO MUCH FUN! It is too bad that Halloween only comes once a year, because it was fun to dress up and goof off like kids again. Sure beats trick-or-treating! :) Now, I know you want to come party with us next year...mark your calendars for Friday, October 29, 2010!