We're having a BABY!

Well, well, well. Would you look at that? The Gardner family is expanding! And I'm not just referring to the fact that I had donuts for dinner the other day. Baby Gardner is on the way! We are absolutely humbled and excited at the prospect of having a little one in our lives. It's so hard to believe there's a baby inside of me. Like seriously... I'm still not sure I believe it.

The blog is definitely excited about our news- research shows that having a baby increases the chances that you will remember to post on your blog by at least 65%! Okay, I made that up... but it's probably pretty close. I mean, really.

I have to apologize in advance, though, to my extremely talented photographer friends: although I've been blessed with many artistic talents, I have never had a knack for photography. I look around at the gorgeous blogs out there and covet their beautiful images. You guys are just going to have to deal with my uninspired, unedited, boring pregnancy and baby photos, and you're going to ENJOY them because you LIKE me, gosh darn it!

We're hoping to post some updates as I go through this pregnancy- fun updates about cravings, symptoms, fun stories, etc. And of course, pics of little Baby Gardner when he or she arrives. :)

For now, here's the quick report:

- 12 weeks this Thursday. A little over a week until the end of my first trimester!

- Heard the baby's heartbeat the second they put the monitor on my belly. So comforting! I keep setting a metronome to 147 bpm just to hear that tempo again.

- Not showing yet, but definitely bloating. Wishing I had photographic proof of my hot bod while I had it!

- Symptoms haven't been too bad: very mild nausea, bloating, extreme exhaustion. But the worst offender? Get ready for some TMI: ...constipation. Don't laugh! Okay, it's kind of funny. But it really stinks!

- No crazy cravings yet. I'm sure they'll come!


That's all for now! Hopefully we'll see you again soon with a new post. Until then...

I just really, really want to poop.

Oh. Hi There!

Have some cake, blog!

What, you say? What's the occasion? Well, you see: this lil' blog here has been officially abandoned for a full year now. (Happy?) anniversary!

I was randomly checking to see if it even still existed, and lo and behold, I see my last post was a year ago today.  I thought it deserved a little recognition. And yes, that pasta still is freaking delicious, although I bet you're sick of reading about it since you're such a good friend considering you still peek in on my abandoned blog every once in a while.  The key is white onions, by the way. If you make Penne Betsy with a yellow onion, it's just not the same. The difference between yellow and white in this recipe is "meh":"I will never eat regular pasta again." So, keep that in mind.

The problem with procrastination is that there are so many things I wish I had been reporting on, and I don't want to just word vomit and potentially lose you to a more exciting blog with pictures of cute babies. Our time will come (learning how to actually take photos of exciting moments... oh and babies, we'll have those too), but until I have more visually exciting things to throw at you, I've attached a picture of our Christmas newsletter for you to get a brief glimpse of what 2011 was like here at the Gardner household:

Gardner Christmas Newsletter 2011 (page 1) and (page 2)

See you in another year!

I kid, I kid.   ;)

Penne a la Betsy, a.k.a. freaking deliciousness

GUYS. I made this today, and it was INCREDIBLE. It's a shrimp and pink sauce pasta recipe I found on The Pioneer Woman's recipe blog. Garlicky, buttery deliciousness. It was fantastic fresh from the pan, but the "amazing" factor diminished as it cooled. So, take note: if you make it, eat it right away!

Here is the recipe: Penne a la Betsy

Ho, Ho, Ho!

We are spending Christmas in Utah with Rosa's younger siblings Gabe and Julie-- us "little kids," if you will. :) Then all four of us will travel to Bakersfield, CA to spend a few days with the Gardners!

Also, we sent out a little Christmas letter-- we couldn't find our list of addresses, so it was mostly sent to immediate family because we knew those :)  In a few days I'll post it here for anyone who missed it.  

It's been a great year. Thanks for all the love and support!

MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE!

Presents around our "tree"

festiv-ized bookshelf (with our piggy bank Voldesnort peeking out)

The stockings were hung on the screws the previous owners left in the wall, with care, in hopes that when we remove them, the holes will no longer be there.

My First Black Friday

Funny that three of our least favorite things in the world just so happen to be exactly what Black Friday is all about:

1. Waking up early
2. Waiting in lines
3. Shopping

For some reason, Ben cracked a few years ago and has been sold on it ever since. I've never really cared much about it because I've never really had money to blow on plasma TVs or laptops, but it turns out there are other good deals out there besides the big doorbusters. After buying a newspaper just to look through the ads, I was decided: "I've got a message for you, three-dollar hand mixer at Target-- YOU'RE MINE."

Our alarms went off at 3, and I was not a happy camper. I had had a bad cough all week. That didn't stop me, though-- it was time for my first Black Friday adventure!

We arrived at Target around 3:45 and got what was probably the very last parking spot in the lot. It was PACKED. We quickly realized how cold it was outside-- standing out there got old fast. Luckily, the doors opened at 4, and since everyone runs in like there's no tomorrow, it didn't take long to get inside.

It was incredible. There were people everywhere. There were already long lines at the registers when we walked in. Ben and I had a game plan to divide and conquer. I ran to the mixers, and to my disappointment, they were ALREADY GONE! Booooooo! Luckily, I didn't really need it. I only needed it because it was $3. And really, who DOESN'T need a mixer for $3??

Ben had success finding the Wii game we wanted and picked up a DVD for $1.50. What a deal. Apparently he was also the Black Friday hero for some idiots who couldn't figure out how to get the games out. Look at that-- getting deals AND saving the day. What a guy.

After Target we figured we'd hit up a few other places just because we were already awake. We came home around 7:30 with a few goodies, like a really nice winter coat for Ben (who has been wearing a freaking HOODIE until now). Aaaaaand, even though we were tired and hungry and hated waiting in line to check out behind the guy who couldn't understand what Kohl's cash was, we didn't end up killing each other. In fact, we had a blast.

I suppose it was fun for me because there wasn't anything I desperately wanted or needed. I mean, if I was up super early and in the cold because I needed that plasma TV and then I found out there were none left, that would be the opposite of fun. But my loss on the $3 mixer was something I could deal with. And spending time with Ben is always something worth doing. :)

Black Friday-- I'm not so scared of you anymore (now that I don't work retail). Maybe we can be friends now... maybe. ;)

Buzz, buzz, buzz! (We're little busy bees... get it?!)

Well hello there, blog! It's been a while! There are big things ahead for the Gardners-- I'm on my way to an April graduation, potentially performing in a Senior Showcase that will travel to perform for agents in NYC and LA (I'll keep you posted if I get in!), rehearsing for Peter Pan (runs Jan 19-29- SO FUN, come see it!), among other things. Ben is busy busy busy with grad school applications, several research projects, working full-time, becoming a certified member of the Red Cross's local Disaster Action Team (isn't he so cool??), and listening to me jabber on and on about whatever show I'm in and how important my life is. HA!

Speaking of me jabbering on about my life, let me tell you a bit about what's been going on. What an action-packed semester it's been! Between Junior Seminar and Auditions class, it has been the hardest yet most rewarding semester of my life. I've grown so much already and it's not over yet!

In Seminar, we are assigned a musical, and then we are responsible to cut it into a 40-minute show, directed, staged, choreographed, and performed by us. My first project was my "stretch role"- I was Julie in Show Boat. I really grew to love the show. The music was gorgeous and I had a great experience. My group worked hard and we put on a good show.

I have been EXTREMELY pumped about this second round-- I am Mary Lennox in The Secret Garden! Anyone reading this is probably laughing at me because this is not news-- I talk about the show constantly. :) Just ask Ben... haha. We had our first preview the other day and it went very well. I really feel like I can do this role. In fact, our whole cast can do their roles-- we could all be cast in these roles today, probably. I look young, I can sing convincingly young, and I have to say, I think I can play young very well. It's hard, as an actress, to play a kid because they don't think the same as adults; their minds process things differently, and I've had a great time trying to explore that. It's a challenge and I have a ways to go, but I have to give myself credit for how I've done so far. My teacher gave me a nice compliment after our preview. He said, "You played young very well-- I didn't have to see the 'actor at work'." A lot of people are good at ACTING. They are engaging to watch but they are still "acting" and not "being". My goal is to work toward that in all of my acting, not just this role.

I could go on and on about this musical and how gorgeous the music is and how spiritual the experience of putting it together has been. There's a message of hope in life after death and eternal families that literally brings me to tears by the end of our show, every time. My hope is that we can bring that same feeling into the hearts of the people watching it. I've had several spiritual experiences with shows in my life, but I feel like this one's really making it all click for me-- I know art can touch people's lives, but with this show I feel like I'm finally an active participant in bringing that to people, and more than ever I want to get any bad habits or insecurities I have and throw them out. I need to get them out of the way and let the message of the show shine through me. That's my goal, anyway.

Our final performance is Dec. 9. I will try to remember to take pictures and post them after it's all said and done!

Other than Seminar, my life is taken up by preparing my six monologues and two songs for our Auditions class final in Dec, teaching voice lessons to a few students from the voice class I am a TA for, baking random treats instead of doing my Civ class readings, and of course, spending time and snuggling with Ben as much as possible. I kinda like him... a lot.

Polo

Ben is so funny, it catches me off guard sometimes. I mean, he's usually just so quiet, and then BAM! He'll open his mouth and adorable hilariousness just comes out.

The other day, I got lost wandering around Target for a while, looking at deals and forgetting what we were even there for. I realized after a few minutes that I hadn't seen Ben in a while, and began looking up and down aisles (as I'm sure he had been for a few minutes). Just then I got a text from him. All it said was, "Marco."  LOL.


He makes me laugh.