Hotty Toddy, ya'll!

With the exception of the two years Ryan was on his mission, this is the first time since 1993 (18 years ago!) that Ryan has not had season tickets to the BYU home games. Since BYU vs. Ole Miss was as far east as BYU was playing this year, we knew we had to get tickets so we could see at least one game. It was also quite a coincidence when I was talking with one of my best friends, Tiffany, on the phone a few months ago and she mentioned that she was going to this game with her whole family and we realized we would all be there! It had been about a year since I last saw her, and even longer since I had seen the rest of her family, so it was so fun to catch up. Her parents, who moved to the Memphis, TN area a few years ago, were so kind to let us stay at their home with them... and 18 other people...on the night of her brother's wedding. :) It was a great time, as usual, and we loved doing our normal things like staying up late and laughing hysterically, being goofy, painting nails, and playing with the many babies that were around. Ryan was also very pleased to discover that all of Tiffany's brothers and Dad are just as into BYU football as he is. It was funny to get home late from the BYU game in Mississippi and then immediately turn on the t.v. to "watch the highlights" (a.k.a. watch the whole game again but fast forward the commercials) and analyze the plays... felt just like we were back in Utah with Ryan's family! haha. Anyway, we had a great weekend in Tennessee and Mississippi and the Ole Miss fans were the nicest fans I have ever met, and their tailgating was nothing like I could have expected. The pictures will do it more justice than my words.

We got into Memphis around dinner time, and since the city is known for it's BBQ, we had to give it a shot. It was really good! Rendezvous was on the Food Network, so we knew it had to be decent. I kind of liked the baked beans even better than the actual meat!

After dinner, we hit up the infamous Beal Street. We heard some blues bands starting up for the evening, but we were still too early for the big crowds, which was fine with us! We just walked the street for a few minutes and then headed to the Engstrom's house. I didn't get any pictures from the rest of the evening, but I headed over to Brian's wedding reception while Ryan stayed at the Engstrom's and watched football and made sure the kids stayed sound asleep while the parent's went back to the reception.

Ryan was also happy to learn that everyone wanted to head over to Ole Miss as early as he did so that we wouldn't miss a thing (the campus, the tailgating, the "walk of champions," the warm-ups, etc.). While the forecast predicted it to be super hot and sunny all day, it actually turned out to be okay because there was a nice breeze and it was somewhat cloudy and overcast the whole day. Still hot though- I was definitely sweating most of the day!

The BYU tailgate. They announced there that they had to make the cut-off for tickets to the tailgate at 1,000 people and that there were 6,000+ tickets sold just through the BYU ticket office (not to mention the people who didn't buy their tickets through BYU). Also, according to the addresses of people who signed up for the tailgate, there were 32 states represented! I even heard lot's of Ole Miss fans discussing how amazed they were to hear where all of the BYU fans traveled from...coast to coast!

Little Marin was too young to be left at home, so Tiff & Dave brought her along to experience her first BYU game. Gotta start 'em young! As we left the game, some of the Ole Miss fans were surprised to hear that the baby was at the whole game and then declared that she must have been our lucky charm. We agreed.

As previously mentioned, the tailgating was out of this world! There was not even half of a foot between each tent! Some people even make a little business out of the tailgating and hire out high school students to sit in tents all night to reserve spots for the next day. It was literally a sea of tents for a long way!

The other amazing thing to me was the fact that many Ole Miss people get all gussied up for the game and stay that way all day. We're talking fancy dresses, heels, curled hair, tons of makeup, pearl necklaces, and many men in suits, bowties, preppy outfits, etc. Not gonna lie... I'm glad BYU doesn't have that tradition. It didn't look too comfy for a hot football game. But that doesn't mean I wasn't super impressed with their dedication to fanciness at the event!

Lot's of BYU fans mixed in with Ole Miss. It was awesome. Everyone was SO nice and would ask us where we were from, how we were enjoying things, and offer us food from their tailgate!

Here is the beginning of the "walk of champions," where the whole team walks through the Grove before the game and everyone lines up and does their Hotty Toddy chant over and over. Even though it was for the other team, it was still so fun to just be immersed in the game-day spirit and see the other traditions. And it was impossible to dislike any of their fans, which made us enjoy it even more. (p.s. pardon the swearing in the video. Also, never ever youtube the words 'hotty toddy.' Just don't.)

Another crazy thing that TONS of the Ole Miss fans did was bring their Direct TV satellites and flat screen tv's and get everything set-up so they could watch football all day long! We stopped at a couple of different tents throughout the tailgating to get caught up on some of the other games, such as the Auburn vs. Utah State excitement.

Several things to note in this picture: fancy tablecloths and displays, flower centerpieces, astroturf under some tents, decorations, dresses and pearls... it was quite the show.

The only normal picture of me and Tiff together and it was blurry! I didn't realize it until we got back to Ohio. So I included the random one after this, too.

After we were all tailgated out (and with stuffed bellies), we headed over to the game to walk around the stadium and catch some of the team warming up.

These next two pictures were the view from our seats before the stadium was completely full. It was a lot of fun being in a huge section filled with tons of other BYU fans. There were two other seats by us that no one showed up to use, so Ryan and I got to spread out a little too, which was nice on a hot day, especially when 30 weeks pregnant... and because it allowed me very easy access to a bathroom. :)

It wasn't looking too hot for BYU until the 4th quarter, but once those last 10 minutes rolled around, things got pretty rowdy and we're glad we pulled off the win (13-14)! Now that the season has started, we are officially scheduling things around the BYU football games, but we love it! This was such a fun trip in every way and we are glad we decided to go!

**P.S. Hotty Toddy was said and written all over the place, so we finally asked what it meant. First of all, it's the name of their school cheer/chant, and secondly, according to Ole Miss fans, it means something along the lines of "hey ya'll!" and you always say "hotty toddy" when you're out and about and see another Ole Miss fan somewhere. Fyi.

House Sweet House

Can't quite call it "home sweet home" because there's nothing "homey" about empty rooms. Also, just to warn you, there's an overload of pictures on here and many that most people don't care about (but I do). Anyway, here's a tour, starting with the outside (and this is what you get when you balance your camera on a curved mailbox):

Ryan already watering the grass. It's amazing how much more lush and green it looks like now!

Looking inside from the front door. Room on right, staircase on left, living room and kitchen straight ahead:

Room right inside front door:

Kitchen (pre-appliances):

Hallway from kitchen. 1st door on left: basement stairs, 2nd door on left: garage, desk at end of hallway, next door on right: laundry room, first entry on right: another pantry and powder room.

Laundry room:

Powder room (half bath on main floor):

Garage (I know, some of these are pretty darn exciting):

Part of the unfinished basement:

Let's head upstairs now, shall we?

Top of the stairs. Linen closet. First door: master bedroom, middle: guest bathroom, door on right: baby girl's room.

View of upstairs hallway from master bedroom door:

Guest bedroom:

View of upstairs from guest bedroom door. Looking into master bedroom.

Guest/2nd bathroom:

Master bedroom:

Master bathroom (and my baby bump sticking out in the mirror):

And that's a wrap!

Funny things Ryan said

I realize I am far behind on blogging (our move, new house, trip to Tenn/Miss, BYU game.... to name just a few). But since my evenings are precious "get unpacked" time (yes, still), I'll just mention a few things while I can.

~ The Sunday before BYU's first game I was in the kitchen finishing making dinner and I heard some rap song along the sounds of Eminem coming from the laptop Ryan was looking at. I asked Ryan why he was listening to Eminem and if what he was watching was Sunday appropriate (hello nag, but I said it teasingly). His immediate response: "It's actually TJ Fredette. And yes it is Sunday appropriate. It's a BYU football video and BYU football helps spread the Gospel. Last I checked, missionary work was an appropriate Sunday activity." This caught me off guard, but you'd think by now it wouldn't. I should have known. :)

~ Probably one of the worst parts about pregnancy for me is the lack of bladder control. I think we may have stopped at just about every gas station between Memphis and Columbus on our drive last week. Also, I got warning from my doctor about not drinking enough water (even though I already feel like I chug it), and was sent home with a huge hospital water bottle and told to drink about 3 of them a day. I went to the bathroom every 15-20 minutes at work yesterday and had to sprint there each time in order to make it. I told this story to Ryan at dinner last night. Then this morning as we were getting ready for work (and after my 3rd bathroom trip since we got up), he said in all seriousness, "you know, Britt, maybe you should take an extra pair of pants with you to work.... just in case." Ha! Yep, it's that bad... although I have yet to actually need that change of pants, thankfully.

~ This next one is not a funny Ryan story, but I'm saying it anyway. I am avoiding birth stories like the plague these days. Most are fine, but sometimes you run into a horror story that makes you never ever want kids. Well, I accidentally stumbled upon one of those horror stories yesterday and was reading it before I knew what it was. Now I am convinced that I am going to die when I have this baby. Not just of pain, but literally. Someone please tell me I am not going to die.

twenty seven

Yesterday I turned 27 and it was a FANTASTIC birthday. Some of the highlights were shopping (didn't get anything... I can't buy normal clothes and I feel like buying maternity is a waste of money... but it was still fun to get out and not be packing), eating out, visiting our house, and going to see the play Jersey Boys (soooo entertaining and fun!! Ryan and I were surprised that we new all of the songs!). We are having rainbow chip cake and cake batter ice cream (both favorites) tonight instead of on my actual birthday because we just didn't have time yesterday and my pregnancy taste buds couldn't take that sweetness yesterday. I got some fun gifts too... the book 'The Help,' along with a popcorn maker-just in time for carmel popcorn at the holidays, and a small chocolate fountain for some entertaining in our new home!

Anyway, thank you to all of my friends and family for all of the texts, calls, emails, cards, FB messages, etc. And to Ryan for making me feel so special on my day. I felt so loved!

I've also realized that I need to suck up the fact that wearing non-maternity shirts at week 28 is actually much less flattering than wearing maternity clothes. Maybe I should have bought a few things while shopping yesterday. :)

Don't judge the mess in the background... we're cleaning out and packing. Also, Ryan keeps forgetting I turned 27 and he tried making a 26 out of candles on accident before the 27 :)

It's not a cocoa krispy

I just looked up one of those counter-things today and discovered that I have 99 days until I'm due. Out of the triple digits! That seems like 3 years away right now, but really it's just over 3 months and with the way time is flying these days it might feel like 3 weeks.

Anyway, I had a little while where I didn't significantly grow each week, so picture taking was pointless. But, I have most definitely "popped" in the last few weeks and feel like I'm getting bigger everyday. So here's 26 weeks...

I know, it's extremely blurry. And I'm not lying that I get bigger all the time- in fact, I think I am a bit bigger than when I took this picture a day ago. Oh, and please ignore the huge pile of clothes on the floor. Okay, I cannot take a picture of myself. I get more of the wall than the mirror, I can't keep it steady, etc. Not sure what my problem is... Anyway, here's a few tidbits to date:

• I think more significant than my belly in the above picture is the fact that my hair is so long! This is not a good thing though since the last time scissors/color have touched my locks was January 28th. My hair is a disaster. Moving on...
• Ryan and I both thought that at this point it was pretty clear to everyone in the ward that I was pregnant, but we found out tonight that some people in the ward have been trying to hint around and ask questions to get us to confirm this fact and apparently we have not picked up on it very well. We thought everyone knew, but apparently my primary kids have not spread the word like I hoped they would.
• Story: I have a very deep belly button normally, and when I was a little girl and would look at my belly button, I always saw a little brown seed-shaped thing in there. I specifically remember always thinking I had a cocoa krispy stuck way deep in there and no matter how hard I tried to get it out, it was stuck for good in there. So recently, my belly button has become less and less deep and that brown spot has been getting bigger and I finally figured out that it is a mole! It was so folded in down there, that it never looked like one! Now I can sleep at night.
• Our house is done in one week from today and we close/move in two weeks. We can't wait!
• Ryan said something last Saturday that I was certainly not expecting to hear him say: "I want vegetables for dinner. Just vegetables." So we went by a little farmer's market that he passes on his way to work and bought a bunch of vegetables for dinner... zucchini and onions, corn on the cob, tomatoes, plums etc. and we ate veggies for dinner. It was SO good! Of course the only picture I got was Ryan cooking zucchini right before he slices his tomato. Better than nothing though, right?

Fear the Beard

As Ryan drove to work Friday morning, he was listening to ESPN radio and heard that his team, the San Francisco Giants, were playing the Reds in Cincinnati this weekend. A few hours later, we had ourselves some $4 tickets and headed down to Cincinnati right after work. We missed the first inning, which was fine because the darn game went a full THIRTEEN innings! Around the 8th inning, Ryan and I moved from our nosebleed seats down to the bottom level to stand and watch the last inning. After several more innings of just standing there watching no one get a run, we finally went and grabbed some seats that were way down in front, which worked out perfectly for when one of our favorite players, Brian Wilson ("the beard"), got put in to pitch (both teams went through every pitcher they had). Unfortunately, the Giants lost by one run at the bottom of the 13th. At least we got awesome seats for half the game, got to see Ryan's favorite team, and paid very little for the tickets... totally worth the money. The only downfall (besides the loss) was that it was in the hundreds with high humidity for the entire game! When we finally left Cincinnati at 11:45pm, it had cooled down to about 97 degrees but was still really muggy- it was worse than Arizona! I went through 8 cups of ice and 8 cups of water (resulting in about 88 bathroom trips!) Gotta keep hydrated! Anyway, we got home at about 2 am, but we had a blast! Next time we will have to go when we can see the city a little more, since neither of us has ever really been there for fun.

Some other things...

I got a bit behind on blogging and had some things I wanted to remember, so here is a hodge-podge of things I wanted to include...

My family was all out here for Aaron's burial (more on that to come- but again, I need to get pictures from Lisa/Dad). Anyway, we spent a few hours watching Ashlynn while everyone went and took care of paper-signing and burial stuff at the cemetery. We needed to get the girl outside, but it was pretty much the hottest day of my entire life, so we went to the park and I sat far away in the shade, stuck my zoom lens on the camera, and took some pics while Ash dragged Ryan around the park. She loves her Uncle Ryan and continually asks for him.

My whole family got to come down from Cleveland for an evening, and we showed them our new house and neighborhood, went out to eat, went shopping for some more baby clothes, and then came home for dessert. My parents headed back up to Cleveland and Lisa, Brandon, and Ash stayed here for a couple of nights. We got to hang out, watch movies, go swimming, etc. We had more outside plans but it was in the hundreds, plus crazy humidity, which made us happy to stay inside and enjoy the air conditioning. :)

Also, our house is really coming along! It should be done on August 18th, and we should close on the 26th. It will be fully landscaped (with grass too- thankfully!) and we get an extra tree in our yard since it's a corner yard. I'm beyond excited to get out of this apartment and away from the white-trash neighbors.

On a pregnancy note, I walked into the grocery store a couple weeks ago and the Doritos were on sale. All of a sudden I HAD to have Doritos and NOW! So I bought them and ate half the bag by myself as soon as I got home. Then the next day after work, I finished them off. Junk food has tasted completely awful this entire pregnancy and so I justified my bad eating decisions those days with the fact that I haven't been eating bad most of this pregnancy. That's allowed, right? Needless to say, I have not bought Doritos since then, because I know what would happen if I did! Just look at these nasty "Dorito-fingers." ha! That's shows some serious dedication to Dorito-eating. (I can't believe I posted this picture).

Lastly, we went to King's Island with Ryan's work yesterday. It was dang hot that day and crazy humidty (that's pretty much been the theme of weather around here the last few weeks). Although we didn't ride a single ride- well, besides the train around the park (I couldn't ride anything and Ryan didn't feel like it), we had passes for free unlimited drinks the whole day, and a free big lunch at the company pavilion for the day. We left just when the little storm was getting there. Even though we didn't ride rides, we still had a good time and it was fun to just go somewhere else for a while.