Still no pictures... tidbits

Even though I don't have a job I have been quite busy. Therefore, I haven't gotten
the internet set up for our new place and don't have pictures with me to post...
Plus it keeps me from wasting my life away online.

We love our new place and still have a lot of things to finish. Nathaniel is making a
sort of end table with his dad and maybe some other shelves for our food storage.
I have done some sewing and still want to make curtains for our bedroom, re-cover
our kitchen chairs, etc. Not to mention anything for the baby's room. We need to
re-paint some of our furniture and finish decorating. It has been fun.

I've also been able to help at my parents' house several days. My grandpa just moved
in with them so I painted my old bedroom for him and helped with some other things
before and after he moved in. So I guess I've kind of been working.

Nathaniel rides his bike a lot (everyday to work and then some) and I have a little
here and there. We are quite close to most everything we need. We got Orem Fitness
Center passes and have been using them 3-4x/week. Nathaniel is the new Scout
Committee Chairman and I am the Nursery Music Leader for the 3 classes of nursery
kids. It is possible that I'll have more nursery kids than he does scouts - we'll have to see.

I am 24 weeks, still hardly showing and am measuring two weeks behind. I had my first appointment
since we moved with the group of midwives I am seeing. They aren't (or maybe I should say,
"she isn't," I've just seen one so far) too concerned yet, but I better get growing. I should
probably get Than to take me out for ice cream a few times a week so I can gain some
weight, right?. :) There haven't been any signs of problems and I feel and even see
our baby kick/move regularly, so we hope for the best.

I feel sooo much better than I did the first few months. It is sooo nice! Since I am not
super big yet, I am still enjoying a few perks. I can bend and move easily for the
most part still. I have enough energy to keep pretty busy during the day;
well, except for my nap. I haven't had to buy hardly any new clothes so far. It helps that
I had some clothes that were a little too big that I've been saving. I did get some
cheap maternity jeans because I can't comfortably squeeze into my old ones very well anymore,
but they are still too big and I have to pull them up all the time.

Moving Day

I am excited to stop living out of boxes, unpack and get things arranged at our new place.
In the mean time, Nathaniel's parents have been so kind to let us stay here for a
few weeks. We closed on Wednesday and move in today! Thanks to my
sister-in-law/Realtor we were able to look at about twenty places almost as soon as
we found out we were moving to Orem. She has been very helpful and on top of things,
and I would highly recommend her! I think it has been one month to the day since we
went to look for houses, so everything has been very fast. Also, thanks to our mortgage broker,
we were able to get our loan super fast and move forward with the whole process.
I took some pictures but our camera cord to download them is packed somewhere
so you'll have to keep waiting and enjoy these for now...
Come visit and see for yourself instead!

We now have one of these, thanks Farfar (grandpa)!


And we have these growing ALL over our tiny backyard.

Baby update: I've been able to feel (and tell that I'm feeling) our little
girl move around. It is fun. I've been leaning more towards a Norwegian
name since she was with me (and making me sick) while we were in
Norway. You can see my preggo belly, but I thought it would have been
bigger by now. That's okay with me, though, as long as she is growing.
She's right on track.

Updates: Crazy but Good

We successfully and officially moved out of our beloved apartment of 3 years
on September 5th. Thanks SO MUCH to everyone that has helped us out before,
during and after the move. Most of our stuff is still boxed up and stacked in piles in
both of our parents' garages. Thankfully we haven't had to do too much digging to find
things we've needed. We are living with Than's parents for a few weeks until we close
on September 23rd and move into our new home on the 25th/26th.

Nathaniel started work on September 8th and has had a lot of meetings and trainings so far.
We were happily surprised to find out he gets off work at 4:00 instead of 5:00. He has
been able to ride his bike there every day and plans to do so through the winter -
except when the roads are REALLY bad or his wife is too concerned.

I decided to continue working after we moved. Yesterday was my last day.
My paraprofessionals (a.k.a. aides) threw me a little party which was actually a sort of baby shower.
It was so sweet of them to do that! I was able to stay with friends while I was back in Logan
to work these past two weeks. I was also able to visit with friends and shop at the
USU Bookstore, which was wonderful! I don't know why I love it so much... well, I do.

On Monday I had my ultrasound at 19 weeks and found out that we are having a
little girl! Unfortunately Nathaniel wasn't able to be there. My appointment was in Logan
and he was at his 5th day of work in Orem. Everything looks good and we hope it stays
that way! I bought the cutest little Aggie outfit that I've had my eye on since before
we even found out we were expecting. I just wish I could have gotten more
Baby Aggie gear! A few months ago I got Nathaniel to agree to let me buy stuff
from the bookstore before we moved. We decided on a budget and I used all but $.90!

So this is an odd picture, but there are "no little boy parts." All I can figure is that
it is from an angle similar to you looking down at your lap. Unfortunately thepicture of her almost sucking her thumb wasn't included on the CD. Maybe I'll scan it in later.

My Take on Moving (by Nathaniel)

Seven years ago my brother Nephi drove me up to my apartment in Logan, helped me
unload my three boxes and my microwave, and drove away. I had been to Logan once
before that, for freshman orientation. On Saturday, I will drive away from Logan with
a degree, a wife, and a lot more than three boxes (In fact, as we have packed,
I've been astonished and somewhat embarrassed by the quantity of STUFF we have).
As the Logan years come to a close, I've been thinking about what I'll miss most.
Here's a list, in no particular order:

I will miss game days when half the student body are wearing USU shirts.
I will miss doing the Scottsman and seeing the rest of Spectrum in motion with me.
I will miss walking in the fall down the north side of the quad, when all the leaves
are turning, and light comes through all golden - the brick buildings on the left, and the quad on
the right, maybe a few leaves blowing around the sidewalk - I can't think of anything prettier.
I will miss finals week. There's this great feeling of camaraderie-in-suffering during
finals week when everyone is cramming, and everyone is stressed, but everyone
is encouraging, too, and strangely cheerful.
I will miss walking down the main street of campus during homecoming week when all
the campus clubs paint bright, vivid murals on the road.
I will miss reading positive remarks from professors on my assignments.
I'll miss running with my brother in the mornings; relatedly, I'll probably miss
being in shape pretty soon.
I'll miss going all over the valley and being able to say, "I put in that sprinkler system.
I worked on that barn. I painted that fence. I broke that guy's lawnmower..."

What would be nice is if I could bring this all into a nice, tight circle and without being
really cheesy, say something about how I came with only four boxes, and I'm leaving
with all these fond memories. Unfortunately, I can't think of any way to say
that without feeling kind of Hallmark-hall-of-fame-y.
Suffice it to say then, that I'm going to miss this city very much.

Farewell, Sweet Logan!

We are officially moving to OREM! We are super excited, and our families are thrilled.
We hope to start looking for a place to live in a few days seeing as how we are planning
to move over Labor Day weekend - less than two weeks from now. Do you know of
anyone looking for a place? Thanks again for all your prayers!


I turned in a special letter of resignation a couple weeks ago which allows/requires
me to work until they find a replacement for me or I have to move. Nathaniel's first day is
September 8th. He will be the Senior Accounts Manager for Insurquote.

Last weekend Nathaniel hiked King's Peak with a couple of his brothers
( Nephi and Jared) and a cousin. Despite the rain/hail and the hard ground
(he opted not to take a sleeping pad but has since learned his lesson),
he had a wonderful time. On his way home he met up with me so I could take him
back to the cabin in Star Valley where my family was spending a few days. I LOVE that place!

Three years ago today we were married!!! We have been so blessed and so happy.
Nathaniel is a wonderful and amazingly good and patient husband! He has worked so hard
to help me through this pregnancy too! We get to find out what we are having in one month - maybe.


Six years ago this week I moved to Logan and have been here and loved it ever since.
I experienced and enjoyed 5 different apartments and over 20 roommates! I am sad to
not be a student or even a student spouse anymore, but we have more great adventures ahead.

We had a yard sale yesterday just for kicks. Most of the stuff was from my parents' house.
My brother Josh, and his wife, Emily, came up with their little boy to help us. My friend,
Suzanne, also spent the day with us. My nephew Aiden seems to be taking a liking to Nathaniel,
and I can't get enough of it. One of the first things he said when he got out of the car was,
"Hi, Unko Phan." One of the first things he said after he woke up from his nap was,
"Where's Unko Phan?" And one time Than was going outside and Aiden started to
cry so we all went out together. He is so fun!

Ha Ha & Hooray!

Little Nathaniel

So Nathaniel has been working so hard for several months to get a job. He has spent a lot
of time looking for jobs, learning programs, working here and there and taking such
good care of me, our garden and our apartment. With all that he has basically been
working full-time. Now it all finally pays off!

He had an interview a couple weeks ago down in Orem and was offered that job.
He had a phone interview with a company up in Boise and is actually on his way
there right now. They got him a hotel to stay in for the night and his interview will be all
morning and they'll take him out to lunch. We hope for the best!

It is great to see the fruits of his labors and everyone's prayers in our behalf begin
to create some potential options. For the longest time he would rarely even get an automated
e-mail from a company saying that they even got his application. There was also a recruiter
that kept telling him that companies aren't hiring out of state right now and that Utah
doesn't have any positions.

Hooray!!!

What a great husband he has grown up to be!


Yesterday I was pretty excited to start my second trimester because you're
supposed to feel better, have more energy, etc., and I was pretty proud that I had gone a
week without throwing up. I've been feeling better and I think I have more energy.
Sometimes it is hard to say because I've had work off besides some paper work. So I can sleep
until I wake up and get ready as slow as I want to. I have gone a few days without a
nap lately, but regret not taking one by the time evening rolls around.

Anyway, I guess I shouldn't count my chickens before they hatch. I didn't feel super great
last night and even woke up still feeling sickly. I made it out of bed, had some breakfast
and felt like I could take a shower. I felt better after that and asked Than if he
wanted to go to the Temple right then. We got into the temple and he discovered
he had forgotten his recommend, even though he had his wallet. We were on our way home
(just a 3-4 minute drive) and I started feeling sick. Then I was passed the point where telling
myself I didn't need to throw up did any good. I told Than to drive faster and tried telling
myself that I could wait until we got home. No such luck - we were about a block away from
our house and I had two nice spews out the car window that decorated the side of the car
and may have provided some entertainment for the vehicle behind us. Than pulled over in
front of some lucky person's house where I finished up. By the time I was almost done
throwing up I couldn't help but laugh. I started laughing pretty hard and took a picture of
the car when we got home, but I'm sure you don't want to see it.

Ha ha...

Rearranging our Apartment for Baby Hardman - Phase 1

Yes, we are finally having a baby! Although the little one won't be joining us until
sometime around February 8th, we have already started making some changes.


New cereals (both on sale!). MultiGrain Cheerios to help me be healthy and
Cap'n Crunch Berries because it is the closest thing I have had to a craving. I'm not totally
averse to food like I was a few weeks ago, but I still generally don't feel like eating.


New, random stuff in the fridge. You can see three kinds of juices (not because
I like them but have necessity for them). Applesauce for the times my stomach is a
little less than cooperative or happy. Also, a pitcher of water because I am not so
content to just fill up from the tap anymore.



A lot more movies lying around. Here you see Bewitched, Monkees and Conference.
Those are the regulars - always on hand. I do read and nap a lot too.
And sometimes I just lay.


Our new mattress. Sleeping is a thing of the past. Between dreams, bathroom trips
and aching so bad I can't lay on either side for more than a few minutes during
the last few hours of the night, I had to do something. On the left side of the bed
you can see a brown sleeping bag. There are actually two, big, fluffy brown sleeping
bags on my side of the bed. Thankfully it has helped quite a bit.



Saltines on the nightstand.



Occasionally a bowl by the bed at night just in case.
Thankfully I haven't had to use it yet (at night).



The bowl I usually use with the rug pulled away slightly to avoid unexpected splashes.



The couch is now usually equipped with pillows during the day and a blanket all
the time. Sometimes I come out to finish my night on the couch.



We have some new seating arrangements. The couch also often functions as our
new dinner table because I don't enjoy sitting in chairs much. Here is where I like
to put on my makeup because I can sit (there is a mirror on the wall there).


I sit on the edge of the tub and do as much as I can to get ready. You can also see a
stool in the shower. I had that from my ankle surgery, but it works well when you are
tired and pregnant too.


Comfy clothes that aren't tight around the waist are always handy.
Don't worry, I put them away sometimes.


The green bathtub cleaner I made from baking soda, liquid soap and water
with a little vinegar. It works wonderfully!



Last but not least, new pictures. Here is Baby Hardman just over 3 weeks ago at
my appointment when I was 8 weeks. We may have some updated 12 week
pictures next week. All the pictures are meant in good humor, not to complain.
I have been sick but sooo glad it hasn't been worse! And I hope it will get better soon!
It is rather amusing to me anyway and we are happy.