Pregnancy Update: Week 7

So Clay and I are 7 weeks into my pregnancy - and it has been quite a ride so far.

We found out about 3 weeks ago that we were expecting. That was an adventure in itself, too. I decided on a whim to take a test on a Saturday evening. Well, surprise to me - it was positive! I was so thrilled. I took another to be sure - but this time it was negative! I thought, ok, there's such thing as a false negative on these things. Then I took another one and that one was NEGATIVE too! At this point I was freaking out.

Clay came home, and though I was hoping to share the good news in some kind of creative and cute way, all I could really do was say "I GOT A POSITIVE AND TWO NEGATIVES WE HAVE TO GO TO THE STORE AND GET MORE TESTS NOW." So we drove to Smith's at 8:00 p.m. on a Saturday night. We got several different brands, and returned home so I could take several more. These were all negative too. At this point, I started googling "false positive pregnancy test" and found out that, yes, indeed, you can get a faulty test that reads positive when it is not. I was so bummed out. I decided I would take one more test the next morning and then concede that I was not, in fact, pregnant.

I took one the next morning, though, and it said PREGNANT! I took another one to be sure and it confirmed the first. So a day and about 12 tests later, we confirmed our suspicions. We are expecting Baby Christenson #1, and he or she is due October 12!

We couldn't be more thrilled. It's a very exciting time but an overwhelming one. There's so much to decide and figure out before next Fall. When we visited the OB clinic I've decided to attend, they talked about epidurals and natural birth and the cost of delivery... all I could think was, ahh! So much to think about.

The one downside of being pregnant is that I have developed some serious morning sickness. I feel nauseous pretty much anytime I'm not eating... which is pretty often. I have about maxed out on crackers and ginger ale. It makes me a bit worried because all I cam really tolerate to eat is carbs and some soup, and I need to make sure I am eating a balanced diet for the baby. It's especially hard to sit through work all day when I feel so sick to my stomach. Here's hoping this passes soon.

All in all, being pregnant is fun. It's still setting in, but I think when I start showing then it'll really hit me. I'm so glad all of our family and friends have been so supportive in this super exciting time for us.

The Best Part About Graduating From College?

Having free time to read - not textbooks, mind you, but books of my own choosing. I have very much enjoyed these past few weeks the opportunity I've had to spend hours perusing Barnes and Noble, Borders, Target, even Costco for new reading material.

It's been kind of a struggle, though, to find good books with plot lines that keep me hooked while at the same time remaining relatively wholesome and appropriate. I realize this isn't everyone's style, but it really disappoints me to get caught up in a good story and then have that story interrupted by bedroom scenes that make reading the book uncomfortable to me from there on out. I recently started such a book - I was really getting into the story, the characters, and the setting, and then wham - out of left field, two of the main characters are suddenly (and I thought needlessly) depicted in a graphic scene that really turned me off to the entire book.

That being said, I have been able to find a few books lately that I have read and just adored. One has been Diane Setterfield's The Thirteenth Tale, a sort of thriller mystery involving a reclusive old writer and the secrets of her past.
This was the book that made me remember how fun it is to read a good book. I think I finished it in two or three days, and it was so much more fun than watching Law and Order: SVU reruns on Netflix (which I love to do when I have a spare half hour).

And that kicked off my current book-buying frenzy. I am almost addicted to it - whenever we pass by a bookstore, I feel a compulsion to pull over and look for good deals on books I've been wanting to read for who knows how long.

Another I read recently was Abundance: A Novel of Marie Antoinette by Sena Jeter Naslund. I am a huge historical fiction fan, but typically turn away from fictional depictions of real peoples' lives, because I think if done sloppily, they can seem tacky and crass depictions of a real, living or once-living individual's life experiences. However, I had heard that the author of this book meticulously researched Marie Antoinette's life and interspersed the book with true events as well as fictionalized passages.

Overall, I enjoyed the author's style of writing, and the story itself was very interesting. I grew pretty attached to the main characters, and Naslund presented some of them in a way that I had never considered. For instance, Louis XVI, who history mostly remembers as a fat, bumbling oaf of a monarch, was, according to Naslund, a kind-hearted, if not somewhat socially awkward and dim, family man who loved his wife and children dearly and cared very much for the happiness of his people. Marie Antoinette was also given a favorable characterization, but was not without her flaws - at times, she stooped to pettiness in snubbing King Louis XV's mistress out of spite and disdain. There were a few parts in the book that were borderline as far as sexuality; a major plot point is that for years after their marriage, Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI didn't consummate the marriage or produce heirs, something that was an outright scandal at the time. However, I felt that the book strayed away from sensationalizing sexual matter, and I was more or less alright with what was included.

I also appreciated the fact that Naslund didn't explicitly sexualize the relationship between Marie Antoinette and Axel von Fersen, a Swedish count that she may or may not have had an affair with in real life. Naslund left it open to the reader's interpretation for the most part, and nothing between the two of them was ever really portrayed. I felt this was a tactful way with dealing with a relationship that may or may not have been what some have hyped it up to be.

I am on my third book now, The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak. So far, I am really enjoying Zusak's style and storyline. I am also always looking for new good reads, so if anyone has one they are dying to share, please let it be known. I do have a little more graduation money to spend on new, exciting reads. :)

Our Anniversary Celebration

On April 30th, Clay and I had our first anniversary. It's weird to me that we've been married for a whole year already - time has really flown by!

We spent the day of our anniversary at Thanksgiving Point at the dinosaur museum, at the Gateway Mall in SLC and at a super delicious steak house called Fleming's. It was AMAZING!

We wanted to go to the tulip festival that day, but it was overcast and kind of rainy, so we went the next weekend and had a really great time.

The only downside was that it was SO crowded. It felt kind of like Disneyland - hot and filled with tons of people. Otherwise, it was great! The gardens reminded me of Europe, particularly Versailles. It REALLY made me nostalgic to go back sometime. Unfortunately, being poor newlyweds, that won't be happening for a while. But that's ok - we can dream and plan for it in the meantime.

Oh yeah, a few weeks ago, we graduated from college. Pretty cool, huh?

Some cool giveaways.

Hey guys! I found a couple of cool giveaways going on, and wanted to share them with you!


An adorable bracelet giveaway
And an iPad giveaway!

Check them out! :)

It's Autumn Time... But not for much longer!

Hey everyone,

So, it's been four months since my last post. How lame am I? Oh, well, better late than never!

Things have been going really well for us these past few months. We've been very, very blessed. A few highlights:

- Clay did really well on the LSAT - a 174! We are so excited and relieved. It certainly frees us up for more options as far as law school is concerned. We are not sure where we will be headed, but at this point BYU is probably at the forefront.

(Never have to see one of these again!)

I had a really fun birthday weekend consisting of fun gifties, an awesome dinner at my favorite restaurant in the world, and a visit from the Cook family.

- We celebrated Clay's birthday in September, and I made him the cake of cakes: a Reese's peanut butter cake. It was epic, and delicious.

(Not the actual cake I made, but it looked exactly like this!)

- We started our LAST year of college (which is freaking me out).

- Halloween wasn't too eventful... such is being an adult, I guess. We watched a movie, and that was about it. 

- Provo has hit an early winter - it's freezing. 

We're not too far from this, I'm afraid.

- Clay's cousin Court is getting married. We are super excited for them, and to hit up every reception they're holding in Utah and California. Woohoo!

That's about it for now. Hope all is well with you guys!

Much love, 

Brittany (and Clay)

An Exciting Week

Several exciting things have happened for us this week.

First of all, I finally got rid of my facebook! Now I won't have to worry about all the idle time I spend looking at other peoples' pictures (and sometimes friends-of-other-people's pictures... who knows why I got so caught up looking at those) and reading comments. The worst part is when I would cycle, or check my facebook five minutes after last checking it. What was I thinking? Now I can devote my time to more worthwhile things, and I am very excited about that.

Second, I have a calling in my new ward: 2nd counselor in the primary presidency! I can't express how excited I am about it. I was actually hoping I'd get called in primary, and I've been able to spend a lot of time these past two days looking up ideas and resources for sharing time, achievement days, and opening/closing exercises! These are things I haven't participated in since I was in primary over 8 years ago. I'm hoping I can remember enough for this upcoming Sunday, when I start officially. I am very excited for the chance to share my testimony with the cute kids in my ward and strive to help bring them closer to their Heavenly Father.

Third (this is more exciting for me than Clay probably), Clay is giving a talk this Sunday on "Our Pioneer Heritage." Clay always gives wonderful talks and I am excited to hear what he comes up with. I'm sure he will put lots of time into making it special, and that it will turn out wonderfully.

Fourth, it's Pioneer Day this Saturday, and because of it, we get Friday off, making this a short work week! That's always good news. No, great news. It gives us a chance to catch up on all the sleep we missed during the week (usually a lot). I'm excited at the chance to reflect on our pioneer ancestry and the sacrifices they made to allow us all that we have today, especially, and most importantly, the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Fifth, we finally have air conditioning! This may not seem like all that exciting, but our apartment has been BAKING in the heat these past few days, so this really is a wonderful change. We don't sit there sweating and tired anymore, but cool and refreshed! We love it. AND our new place doesn't have crickets! This is perhaps the most exciting news of all (just kidding. Sort of).

RIP my Jeep, 2002-2010

So my beloved car, the Jeep Grand Cherokee that I've driven since I was in high school, has met a sudden, tragic end. We were driving it one day last week, when all of a sudden the car started making a loud whirring noise and wouldn't shift from second to third gear (it's an automatic). We thought that was weird, but it eventually went back to third gear and ran normally. We took it into the car shop, and they thought it was just an oil problem, but that afternoon called to tell us that the transmission was literally falling to pieces (in big metal chunks) and it would take several days, and $2800, to fix the problem. This made us quite sad.

We've had to quit driving it since, since now it won't even shift from first-second, and will hit a max speed of 20 mph before clunking and grinding noises begin to sound from under the hood. We took it into a repair shop today, and thankfully, they quoted us at a lower price than the other place. So now it's there, in the shop, and we are carless. For the past few days, though, Clay's EQP has been nice enough to let us borrow their second car, so we've been able to run essential errands, like grocery shopping.

Still, I am so sad about my Jeep. I have driven the car since high school, and it has always been reliable, which is why its sudden demise is so shocking. It literally stopped running in two days. But we are getting it fixed up with a new transmission, and hoping to sell it and get a different car. Wish us luck!