Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jog!

If you aren't familiar with the nursery rhyme I am quoting in the title of this post, here's the full rhyme:

To market, to market to buy a fat pig. Home again, home again, jiggity jig. To market, to market to buy a fat hog. Home again, home again, jiggity jog.

I thought the title was appropriate not only because we just got home from our Spring Break trip to Las Vegas but because I am officially a stay-at-home wife again! It felt extremely weird the last two days dropping Robbie off at the Dental School then proceeding back home to do stuff around the house. It felt like I was playing hooky from work!

For those of you who are just discovering my blog, I have worked at the Dental School for the past year and a half. We are due with our first child in mid-May and I decided to leave work a little early to have some time to prepare before Baby comes. It felt bittersweet leaving my job as I've met so many wonderful people and have loved the extra time I got with Robbie during the day. (Not to mention we will slightly miss that paycheck I was getting each month!)

It really does feel incredible to be back at home again, though! When I picked Robbie up yesterday he jokingly asked if the house was clean and if I had gone grocery shopping. Surprise! Yes I did actually clean the house and go grocery shopping, Mr. Marin! You are welcome. :) Robbie also pointed out how much happier I seem the last few days. It probably has more to do with not having to get up at 5:30 and trying to pack enough snacks to keep me fed the whole day and that I can drink water whenever I want (we aren't allowed to have drinks in the clinic area). Aside from those reasons, I do get a great sense of satisfaction out of making my home feel like a home. I love having the time and energy to have meals ready when Robbie gets off, too.

In no way do I feel like there is an expectation that I need to be at home. If anything, I feel that society has swung so far in the other direction that now it devalues women who decide to stay at home because they aren't properly "contributing to society." Because a paying career is the only thing that gives people value and purpose, don't you know? Okay, rant over. Back to happy thoughts.

Like I said earlier, we just got back from Vegas. I guess the term Babymoon applies since it will be our last trip before Baby comes. We stayed at the Trump Hotel which was wonderful. We did end up doing a lot more walking than we had planned so that was exhausting (especially at 7 months pregnant). Here's a few snapshots from our trip:

Shark Reef Aquarium at Mandalay Bay

Of course had to take a few mermaid-y maternity photos

Panoramic view from the Bellagio

Visiting Carlo's Bake Shop (any Cake Boss fans out there?) in the Venetian

Lobster tails!!!!!!

It was the most delicious thing ever!

Waiting for the Tournament of Kings dinner show to start in the Excalibur Hotel. You eat with your hands!

You can't visit Vegas without watching the Bellagio fountains at least once

Have a wonderful week! Now that I'm home I hope to be able to blog more. Until next time!

Highlights of Year 2, Semester 2

So I know we just finished Year 2, Semester 3 and I'm a little behind on this, but I don't want to forget some of the great moments of Robbie's spring semester! This blog is, after-all, somewhat of a journal for us to look back on someday.

1) THE WHITE COAT CEREMONY
I wrote about this in a previous post, but Robbie received his White Coat in a ceremony marking the transition from student to Dental Care practitioner. His parents, sister, brother-in-law and nephews were able to come as well as my parents and one of my sisters. We celebrated afterward by going to a delicious Mexican restaurant called Ajuua!

2) GETTING NUMBED UP BY ROBBIE
I know this probably sounds crazy (especially to anyone not married to a Dental Student) but letting Robbie practice numbing me up for the first time was freaking awesome! It made me realize just how much I trust him and I experienced first hand one of the many skills he is gaining in school. What a long way he's come from those first days when he was filling in shapes with wax.

And he did such a great job, too! A tiny pinch but no real pain!

3) PRESENTATION FOR A.O.
Robbie joined a Dental Fraternity this year called Alpha Omega. They asked me to give a presentation about the rules of clinic, infection control, etc. because of my position as a Dental Assistant at the school. I had a great time prepping a PowerPoint and overall felt the presentation went pretty smoothly. I even threw in a few witty jokes for good measure.

4) BABY HENRY WAS BORN
Yes, I do indeed have another nibling! He was born in March to my third-oldest sister and he is absolutely adorable! How could you not love a baby who smiles so much?

 Are you overwhelmed by the cuteness yet?


5) OUR SPRING BREAK TRIP TO PUERTO VALLARTA, MEXICO
Jeez this is making me realize how behind I am on this blog. I didn't even write a post about our Spring Break trip! We went to Puerto Vallarta for 5 days and stayed at an all-inclusive resort (a first for me). Robbie's favorite thing by far about all-inclusive vacations is the unlimited quantities of food he has access to. And the hotel we stayed at did not skimp on the variety. Every day was a new buffet of deliciousness. We also got to go kayaking, shoot a little archery, soak in the sun by the pool, and even get a massage right on the beach.

The view from our hotel room

Yes, I am wearing a Little Mermaid shirt.

It had a swim-up bar just to the right of the picture.

The massage hut. It was glorious.

I honestly can't get enough of this guy! He is my favorite travel buddy!

6) SEARCHING FOR OUR FIRST HOME
Technically we didn't close on our house until the beginning of Summer Semester, but our search took up almost all of Spring Semester. Let me just tell you that the process of buying a home was a steep learning curve. I had no idea what a Conventional Loan was compared to an FHA loan. I had no idea how competitive and stressful the whole process would be. In the end it was well worth it and I feel like I am a little better at handling stress now.

I've posted this before, but this is right after we closed on our home.

Our cute little kitchen. The margarita glass was left by the previous owners when they abandoned the place.

Ah, this room. There have been some major improvements to this room since we moved in. I hope to write a post about the transformation as soon as I'm all done. The previous owners obviously let their child go nuts with paint in here.

The best improvement that was done before we moved in was having all new carpet put in. The former carpet was covered in mystery pet stains and wreaked like you wouldn't believe.

It was a hard semester-- probably the hardest of my life. But I'm beginning to see some of the ways God used it to mature us as a couple and we now are reaping the benefits of owning our first home.

Can't Wait for Spring Break!

Just one and a half days of school left before spring break starts! Woo hoo!! This week and last week have been pretty insane for the students because several of their classes are ending so it's like an early finals week. Robbie has definitely earned some relaxing time off and we're both really looking forward to his class load going down for a little while (summer classes start in May I think).

Another reason I'm looking forward to spring break is that we're going back east for a couple days to visit some of my extended family, many of whom I haven't seen in about 10 years! I can hardly wait to introduce Robbie to all of them and show off my awesome husband a little bit. :)

Robbie and I have been lucky to be able to take several trips together since we got married-- two to California (read "Ariel going insane at Disneyland"), one to Arizona to visit Dental Schools, and one to Alamosa, Colorado to see the sand dunes and an alligator farm. I just love traveling with him because we both tend to be a little more laid-back about trip planning. We don't try to cram a ton of activities in and then wind up coming home exhausted. Instead we try to just have a general idea of what we might like to do and then adjust our plans once we get there to how we're feeling.

Since this semester has been a little nutty, I have a feeling that we are going to do a lot of relaxing and just enjoy my family's company. If we do decide to do something a little more touristy, I think it might be a visit to Thomas Jefferson's house (Robbie loves historical stuff).

Here's us at the alligator farm holding Capone.

Please note my awesome Little Mermaid shirt.

What about you guys? Do you plan trips down to the minute or are you go-with-the flow kind of travelers?