Popcorn Games

Last night was one of the nights that highlighted how awesome marriage is. For me, it was one of the evenings that I'd daydream about when my single self imagined everything I hoped my future marriage would be. And because of that, I had to document it. Because when times get tough, mundane, or simply too routine, I want to remember this experience and do whatever I need to do to recreate it, in some way.

For last night, all credit goes to Jake.

Jake stopped home for dinner but then went back to work for a few more hours. This meant I put Emerson to bed and did all my winding down and nighttime stuff alone. By the time Jake returned, I was in bed, with contacts out and glasses on, makeup off and face washed, browsing my phone and thinking about reading for a bit before I fell asleep. (I do have to mention that Jake didn't come home WAY late; we simply usually go to bed really early. :P)

Anyways, I greeted Jake when he walked in and started getting ready for bed. After a little chit chat, he said he was going to get a snack before bed. A few minutes later he walks in with a couple frozen lemonades (one for me!) and a bowl of popcorn. He asks if I want to play a game.

Recently we've been playing a game or two of Rummikub at night so I thought he was talking about that. I said, "Sure!"

But that wasn't what Jake had in mind. His game revolved entirely around the bowl of popcorn. And for the next half hour, maybe forty-five minutes, maybe even an hour, one game evolved into another, another, and then another. First, a popcorn version of pick-up sticks. Then some evolved rules. Then how many pieces can you get to stick on your tongue. Then a series of catch the popcorn in your mouth.

All of these games were extremely silly, and to be honest, slightly gross. (Something about wet popcorn...) But both Jake and I were laughing sooo hard the entire time. I was pretty sure we were going to wake Emerson, but that kid sleeps through anything.

This spontaneous, random game reminded me how much I love Jake and how lucky I am to be married to my best friend. Sometimes we get so focused on our to-do lists and day-to-day activities that we forget to let loose and spend some time simply enjoying being around each other. It reminds me how important it is to continue dating your spouse and to take time to have a little bit of random fun.

Thank you Jake for a memorable evening. And yes, I'm pretty easy to please.

My Outdated "About Me"

A few weeks ago, I took a look at my "About Me" page and was shocked by how out of date it was. Tasks over here in blogland have fallen to the bottom of the to-do list, haven't they? I had written the original about three years ago and, well, a lot has changed in that seemingly short amount of time.

Below I've taken a look at the outdated information to see what's changed, provided a few updates, and documented some of those changes via the very posts on this blog. Let's take a look.

"Put simply, I'm a young professional (writing, editing, and publication design) striving to find a balance between my full-time job, side projects (Zumba and freelance), personal goals, friends, family, and sleeping!"

Is 30 still considered young? I think so, but I'm gonna nix that description because I don't feel new to the field and typically work in management positions. I also quit working a traditional full-time job shortly after originally writing this (I wrote about the decision to quit working full time here) and made the side projects mentioned my main sources of income.

"Sometimes I don't think my inadequate self will ever be able to accomplish everything I want to, but I'm learning to focus on the little things and rejoice in small victories. Some of my dreams? I want to start my own business." 

I started Annesali Communications shortly after this to encompass my freelance work and additional clientele after quitting my full-time job. (See my post "Introducing Annesali Communications".)

"I want to find the love of my life." 

Wow. Check. I think I met Jake two, maybe three months after writing this. My first and only slight mention of him on the blog while we were dating was in my October Instagram recap where I show flowers he gave me. But I did write up our proposal story!

We have now been married for a bit over two years. And he is definitely the love of my life. My best friend. The one I want to do anything and everything with. My biggest supporter. And I'm completely heads over heels for him.

"I want to have a family of my own." 

Jake and I were extremely blessed to welcome our son Emerson this past January. He is a happy, chunky little guy and the perfect addition to our lives. Emerson hasn't officially appeared on the blog, but I did share his and her reactions to finding out I was pregnant.

"I want to live free and embrace happiness."

Happiness intrigues me apparently. I can't seem to stop writing about it.

Happiness Comes in the Little Things—Dec. 2013
A Happy Happy Life + 2 Goals - May 2016

I think my post "3 Things I Love About Life Without a Full-time Job" reflects what I mean about wanting to live free. 

"When I'm not writing, editing, or designing, you might find me teaching a Zumba Fitness class. I also hope to soon earn my group fitness instructor certification and explore the fitness world more from the instructing side."

I have definitely dived more into the fitness instruction world. I did earn my group fitness certification through AFAA (find my tips here). I also certified in and have taught U-Jam Fitness (my certification experience) and Piyo, and added in multiple Zumba trainings including Gold (seniors), Kids, Sentao,  and Pro Skills. Next on my list is barre!

If you made it this far, thanks for joining me on this little flashback through the past few years. I'm writing up a new description of me and this blog, so hopefully that will debut soon.

A Look at Pregnancy So Far

Now that I'm more than halfway through this pregnancy—and have completely announced the fact that I am in fact, pregnant, I've been feeling the need to attempt at documenting things thus far.

Honestly, I don't know that there is much to document. Jake and I found out I was pregnant exactly nine days before we moved across the country. Those nine days included me teaching my last full week of classes, packing, planning out our drive, coordinating where we'd stay the weekend after our belongings were picked up, various last-minute projects, finishing Air Force paperwork, shipping Jake's car, and more.

Then we had six days of driving, visiting family, and staying in hotels, followed by another week of living out of our suitcases with none of our belongings. Followed by multiple weeks of unpacking, organizing, exploring, and simply getting used to an entirely new life.

With all that said, I was very lucky to experience very few pregnancy symptoms. If fact, most of anything could have been explained by other causes.

During the traveling time, I experienced some slight stomach discomfort with some added bloating and gas. My limited physical activity and nutrition coming from car snacks and quick food stops on the road surely didn't help my slowing digestive system.  

After getting a tad settled in Pensacola, I really started to notice my fatigue setting in. I was tired ALL. THE. TIME. Can I take another nap please? Again, I'm sure the whole ordeal of moving would take a lot out of people, plus add in having no set schedule (aka nothing to do) and the heat. Oh the heat.

I never had much nausea. I've thrown up two times. Once because I took my yummy gummy vitamins and forgot to eat something quickly enough. (And that's happened to me when I'm not pregnant...) Twice, because I taught a Zumba class and got caught in traffic getting back on base. So I wasn't able to eat quickly enough to replenish my system after working out.

Jake had a training out of state during my 11-14 weeks and I was out of town during my 12th week. My sister and her family came to visit me during that 13th week. After all that, something must have gone bad in the fridge as I couldn't open it without gagging. There really wasn't much I was up to doing about it, so I just held my breath and plugged my nose anytime I used the fridge...and I definitely didn't explore much in there! Then I had Jake clean it out when he got home. I banned him from ever telling me what smelled.

Aside from that, everything has been pretty smooth sailing. My fatigue is the only consistent factor, but I really just don't think I do well in hot weather. I've also been a slow show-er, but everything including weight gain, baby size, and heartbeat are on track. I just seem to be getting chubbier and wider rather than having the typical baby bump...as of now.

I do have one story about fainting at week 16 (which I was fascinated about for a while as I've never experienced that before), but I'll share that in a separate post. I'll also share our experience with the first doctor's appointment.

Stay tuned. (For those and hopefully some non-pregnancy-related topics).

P.S. If you don't already follow me on Instagram, seriously do it. I post a lot more pictures and updates there on a day-to-day basis than I do anywhere else.

From Her: Finding Out

I woke up in the morning and on my way to the bathroom decided to take the last of the two dollar store tests I had impulsively bought a month earlier. I had been waiting a week for my period to start but was planning to wait a few more days before doing the test. Having stopped taking my birth control pills this month, I knew that change could be affecting my body and wasn't too thrown off by the delay.

I had actually taken the first of those tests just two weeks prior mostly out of curiosity of having never taken one. Obviously by going off the pill, we were planning to try for pregnancy. But I saw leaving my daily pill more so as a pre-step than I saw it as us actually "trying." I'll admit that my mindset and actions were more so aligned with the "not quite yet" approach than the trying approach. I didn't expect to have a positive result immediately after going off the pill and wasn't surprised when I did in fact get a negative with the first, probably premature, test I took. However, given the timing and my body history, if I were going to be pregnant this cycle, I thought it would have had to show up by that point.

My decision today was made in a split second. It was a Sunday morning, our one-year anniversary AND Mother's Day. I still hadn't started and figured if I were going to take the test that week anyways, I might as well do it today.

I completed the process of getting my sample in the right place and left the room. I played a game on my phone and just so happened to finish my round a bit more than 3 minutes later. In no rush, I made my way back to the bathroom, really and truly not expecting anything. As I looked down at the test, I saw the two lines and looked back and forth from the test instructions to the test itself.

Really? Positive? ... Really?

I thought about calling for Jake, but he was still sleeping and I didn't want to wake him up. Because it was our anniversary, I decided to turn the results into a present and let him wake up and open it on his own time. I tiptoed into our bedroom to pull a couple sheets of tissue paper out from the wrapping supplies box under the bed.

I found a small box to use and folded the instructions with the results key showing and placed it in the box with the test on top. I then layered multiple pieces of the white sparkly tissue paper around the box and taped them in place.

With my "anniversary present" ready, I slowly made my way back into the bedroom. Jake was stirring but I made my way to his side of the bed and placed the box on his dresser. Jake is a bit hysterical when he's sleeping and he says "What are you doing? Come back to bed."

"I am. But I have a present for you. You can open it when you wake up."

Jake groaned. We had decided we weren't going to do presents; we aren't really presents people anyways. But I think he always fears I'll say no presents and turn around and break the agreement.

Now with that present on the dresser, Jake was noticeably grumpier, even more so than his normal just-waking-up self.

I crawled back into bed and reassured him. "Don't worry, it's not really a present."

I really intended to go back to sleep for a bit and let Jake wake up on his own time. But I found myself not being able to relax.

"Maybe you should open it now."

"Ahghektjhejhkhgs Shtkhjkehs." (Translation: No I want to be sleeping. And now you've made me feel worse for not having a present for you.")

"Yeah, open it now."

Jake sits up, grabs a shirt, and lets me snap a picture.

I realize as he's unwrapping that this should probably be something I film. I thought...oh this is too dark, I need to turn on the light, but there wasn't time to do anything about it. This video shows what unfolded next.

I love the video and proceeded to watch it at least a dozen times today...even though Jake hates how he looks and sounds :D.

Read Jake's version here.

From Him: Finding Out

Jake:

We had talked about it before - a family. When do we start trying? Would we want a boy or girl? What name would we give? Sure these are all things that most married couples will think about, but just like in any physical science, the actual experience is nothing like the well thought out theories.

A few months ago, Karianne (aka LOML - love of my life, guys) showed me a video when a woman told her spouse she was pregnant through the "subtle" clue of putting a literal bun in the kitchen oven. He exclaimed, dropped whatever he was doing and picked her up and kissed her. He may have cried too... I don't remember. Anyways, I thought his reaction was sweet and heartfelt, and then I immediately felt a little bad for Karianne since I predicted that my reaction wouldn't be as memorable. I don't react excitedly in a visible manner, but Karianne would still see how happy I would be... right?

Ever since graduating from BYU and commissioning in the Air Force in April, we decided it was time to start trying to add a new member to the family. I figured that things would take a while for the birth control to clear her system, and I didn't expect any results in the near future - after all, I had no idea if we could even have children! I was just hoping a lot and trying not get my sights set on something that may not be physically possible for us.

So May 10th rolls around  - Our anniversary and Mother's Day (not to mention I also like to sleep in on Sundays). It's probably 8 o'clock or earlier and Karianne whispers for me to wake up. I flip the fluffy brown pillow over to its cold side and shove my face even deeper and grumble that it's too early.

"What?" Karianne asks.

"It's too early. Go to sleep."

"I have something for you..." Karianne says softly.

I roll over half upset and half curious. She tells me to put on some random shirt she found - of course the Flash one we got for Halloween when we dressed up as Sheldon and Amy from The Big Bang Theory - and places a package wrapped in white tissue paper (not the toilet paper, but the sparkly filler paper for presents). I grumbled and reminded her of our deal that we weren't going to buy gifts for each other and just enjoy doing things like going to see a play or going to the amusement park with each other this weekend. I was now in her debt with this package in front of me.

Still half asleep and as coherent as a teenager who just got his wisdom teeth taken out, I fumble with the package grumbling that she wasn't supposed to get me anything.

I finally figure out the "complex" opening to the small cardboard box and look in to see the blurry contents. I pull-out this kazoo-looking thing that resembles a USB device. Alright, now I'm confused.

"Is this a large flash drive?" I ask lazily and trying to show enthusiasm (I'm not good at pretending that I'm happy when I first wake up, so this was really brave of Karianne to even think I would show some sort of positive emotion).

"Read this," she says while pointing to the rest of the contents in one hand and holding her phone with the other. I completely didn't register the cell phone there or else I would have put some sort of hand in front of it... I can't stand pictures or videos of myself. ugh.

Anyways, I grab these instructions out of the box and start trying to make sense of the words - they might as well be Chinese characters, I couldn't figure out what I was looking at for a few seconds.

Finally, I see two images of the kazoo-looking flash drive and under one image it says "Pregnant" and under the other "Not Pregnant."

I start to put the pieces together, but everything becomes so much more urgent now that "Pregnancy" is at stake... I don't know why, that's just how my mind responded to the words. I figured Karianne could be the type of person to say, "HEY! We're not pregnant, but I love you anyways! Happy anniversary!" ... And I would probably hate her for waking me up, then. But she would do something like that. You see, she doesn't understand the value of sleeping in... yet.

I flip my eyes between the instructions and the pregnancy test (which I am now sure is not a flash drive) frantically trying to make sense of what I am seeing and what the results are. I beg her to just tell me what it all means...

"YOU'RE PREGNANT!" (Now she'll understand the value of sleeping in.)

I had no idea that we were this close to having a baby. Everything became so real at that moment. This is something neither of us has ever experienced. Just witnessing as much as a good aunt or uncle does... I'm really going to be a father?! Holy Smokes!

I think about the little guy (or girl) who is growing and can't help but imagine all of the experiences we're going to have together as a family. I start dreaming our entire lives and I don't even know what we'll name her/him.

And yet, while I'm so excited, I am still a bit reserved because I know a lot can happen in the first trimester of pregnancy. I am hopeful for everything to go well, but I am always prepared for the worst and the hardest of things - It's in my nature. The thing I know for sure is that I will support my lovely wife with all of the needs she will have - emotional or other - and continue to look forward to the future Ortiz family getting one girl or boy bigger.

I'm constantly thinking, "Am I the father I want to be? What do I need to change? There is no time better to change things than right now." There are so many things I need to learn about being a dad and becoming a better husband and I have always felt like the present is the best time to make changes.

While I was serving as a missionary in Las Vegas, I met an elderly man who invited us over for dinner with him and his wife. He asked me a question that he already knew the answer to - "What is the most important decision you will make in your life?"

"To get baptized?" ... "Nope."

"Who you marry?" .... "Good idea, but no."

He explains, "Both of those are indeed very important decisions, but the most important decision you will make... is the very next one have you before you."

I have thought greatly on that ever since hearing it 7 years ago. I realize that after we make a decision, its consequence changes is priority. The highest priority decisions we make in life are always the next ones we have to face. If you get in an argument, your next decision is to either apologize and make amends or let it fester. If you break a commandment, do you ask for for forgiveness or hide from God. If you are told you are going to be a parent, do you prepare yourself and change accordingly or do you ignore the higher calling?

I am so excited to be the father of Karianne's child. I can't believe I can even be writing these words now. Being married and having a family was a pleasant day dream of mine since I was a kid (of course I also wanted to go to space or invent some cool mechanism - call me old fashioned), but I didn't know what it would feel like when those things would finally be coming true. It feels like a jell-o is what your brain and stomach are made of and your heart just grows three sizes bigger. I am ready for the challenges that parenthood bring and I can't wait to welcome our whatchamacallit into the world....HURRY UP!

Read Karianne's version here.

Camping is for...Ortiz's!

Hahaha. Ha ha ha. Yea, that title is not funny. But for some reason it totally made me laugh. Again and again.

Well, guess what. Jake and I finally broke out our camping gear and headed up the nearby Hobble Creek Canyon past Springville, Utah for a short overnight stay. We have been trying to go for a couple weeks, but the rainy weather has scared us off for a little while.

Jake is definitely a camping person. I caught on pretty quickly that he is ALL ABOUT an authentic camping experience. I mention roasting sticks; he prefers whittling a stick. I mention a sleeping pad; he insists camping is about sleeping on the ground. What should we eat? Tin foil dinners of course! We had a blast and it was really cute to see Jake get so dang happy about camping, and playing with fire, and looking for kindling.

We went with my friend Kailee and her new fiancee Dan. (Not that she had an old fiancee. They are just recently engaged - Oct. 10, 2014!) We couldn't leave at the same time and didn't know exactly where we'd end up...which proved to be slightly problematic when we realized we had NO phone reception. So after we found our spot, I left Jake to set up and I drove the 20 minutes back down the canyon to deliver the message to Kailee where we were.

The night before we left, Jake set up the tent in our living room to make sure he had all the pieces. I wasn't around at the time, and even though he sent me a picture, I didn't realize how small the tent is. It's a two-man tent, which is perfect for us...I just was caught off guard haha. But it was cute and warm and comfy snuggly next to that hot hubby of mine.

We are already planning our next camping adventure! Suggestions? Send them my way.

Jake REALLY likes his Capri Sun. Don't you LOVE his hat? :D

It's Time for the Proposal Story

I had already started writing this post when I realized today is the 19th...which means Jake and I have been engaged for exactly one month. Wow, that has flown by! Only 11 weeks and 3 days left. Or 80 days. Or 1,931 hours. Or 115,860 minutes. But who's counting, right? 

This story begins, for me, back in January, probably around the 5th. At least, that's when I realized a proposal may be coming soon.

Jake and I were together that evening looking at some calendar items. I saw his birthday on my phone and mentioned something about it. He told me not to make plans that evening and that he wanted to plan a night with just us. That's what got my mind rolling about the idea. Looking back, Jake says that he wasn't thinking about proposing that night. I don't know if I believe that. It seemed so obvious to me.

The next couple weeks, I saw clues popping up everywhere. Mentions of a secret I'd find out about soon. Comments in conversations with friends. Little things here and there that under normal circumstances might not stand out. But PROPOSAL was on my mind, and I saw mention of it everywhere. Jake definitely stepped up his romantic side (he's always great at that anyways) and surprised me with notes, little presents, and a ton of cute comments about me and our relationship.

As his birthday inched closer, Jake expanded his request for me to not make plans to the entire weekend. Don't plan anything all weekend.

On the Wednesday before that weekend, Jake and I were together at his house both on computers doing homework (him) and working on client projects (me) when he asked something along these lines: "If I planned a big date, would you want to know details or would you want to be surprised?"

"Hmm. I'd be ok being surprised."

That satisfied him for a few minutes, but he couldn't hold in the news when he excitedly asked "Want to go to Vegas this weekend?"

Jake served his mission in Vegas, and we had talked about going to visit before. So the idea wasn't completely random. Again, not necessarily suspicious in other circumstances. Jake thought I'd like a little notice to pack and such, rather than surprising me with that. He told me to pack for an evening out, church, and hiking.

We set out on our drive around 6 am Saturday morning. We both really enjoy road trips and had a splendid time talking, listening to music (yes, I made him listen to multiple Taylor Swift albums), joking and having fun. We arrived at the home of a family from his mission where we brought in our bags, chatted, and prepared to head to the strip for the evening. We walked around for just a little bit, watched the Bellagio fountain show, and headed to see the Blue Man Group.

I could tell Jake was waiting for the right moment. And that he had considered popping the question at the fountains, but in the end, he didn't feel that the atmosphere was right for our relationship. I was simply enjoying spending time with my favorite person and trying not to make him any more nervous. As we headed back for the evening, I knew he was a little disappointed and a little stressed about finding the right moment. He was so darn cute. I was trying not to focus on anything and to simply let things happen—or not happen—as they may.

Sunday morning we got dressed up in our church clothes and headed to Calico Basin. Because of schedule conflicts, we opted to enjoy the outdoors with a casual boardwalk stroll instead of a formal hike. The boardwalk makes a big loop around the area. We took things slow, stopping often, chatting, holding hands, kissing...being a really annoying cheesy couple. In the center of the boardwalk, there's a big deck type of area. We made our way there, enjoying the scenery, the weather, and the company.

This was the moment. I knew it.

Jake knew it too. He stops me and looks me in the eye. I will forever remember the intensity on his face. Leading up to this moment, he shared a poem in pieces every few steps. I'll spare you the details, but it was full cheese, expressing love and happiness and the such. Yes, I loved it. As he looks at me, he asks what I want out of life. After my response, he says how much he loves me. He smoothly pulls the ring out of his pocket, gets down on one knee, and asks me to marry him.

I immediately pull him up, kiss him, and say yes. He has to stop me to say, "You've got to put on the ring!" Oh yea. The ring is on. We are engaged.

We continue our little stroll holding hands, being really happy, with me more than occasionally staring at the ring on my finger. We continued the day by attending a ward Jake served in and visiting another family from his mission—their home is where Jake first introduced me as his fiance.

The family whose home we stayed out provided a fantastic meal for dinner and for Jake's birthday. After dinner, we headed back on the road where we made our phone calls to family and began discussing all the splendid planning details that follow an engagement.

If you haven't heard, we are getting married in the Washington, D.C. LDS temple on May 10. Thank you for all your support and excitement!