Countdown...

Jon and I have definitely been counting down this season. But maybe not so much to Christmas day as to, well, today. Right after work we're headed to the airport to fly to Utah, and we are SO excited to spend time with family and friends (and not to go back to work for two weeks). Here is a list of some of the exciting events that await us...
1. Attending the temple with family as Diana goes through for the first time.
2. Diana's bridal shower (I'm looking forward to this. Jon is looking forward to relaxing while I'm there.)
3. Snowboarding. (Jon is especially looking forward to this. I am looking forward to hanging out with the girls. Skiing/snowboarding is frowned upon during pregnancy. :( )
4. Seeing Crystal and Steven and Brent for the one day we will be in Utah at the same time.
5. Hanging out with Kirsti.
6. Hugging and kissing Brooklyn. I can't believe she is already six months old!
7. Celebrating my dad's 50th birthday! He's a good man!
8. Eating at Zupas, Kneaders, El Azteca, etc.
9. Seeing cousins and extended family.
10. Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with the ENTIRE Haynie family!
11. Diana and Jonny's wedding!
12. Flying to Austin, TX to see Jon's family.
13. Cycling.
14. Celebrating New Years with the whole Leininger fam!
15. Eating Dad Doug's cookies...mmmmm...

I could go on, but I don't want to make anyone jealous. ;) I just have to get through work today, and we're off! With the snow coming down hard in SLC, though, we are hoping we in deed make it there sometime tonight. Wish us luck!

Is it bad...

for the teacher to be more excited for Christmas break than the students? Or just normal?

You know what stinks?

When everyone tells you you should stop throwing up by 13 weeks, and you don't think there's any way you can make it that long, but then you finally do, and instead of feeling better, 16 weeks rolls around and you are still throwing up! Roar!
I'm sure you all wanted to know that. Have a nice day.

Fabulous Five?

You like me! You really like me! I have been awarded the Fabulous Blog award!! Thanks Kirsti. ;) Apparently there are rules to this thing, so here goes...

The rules of this award are:
1. You have to pass it on to 5 other fabulous blogs in a post.
2. You have to list 5 of your fabulous addictions in the post.
3. You must copy and paste the rules and the instructions below in the post.

Instructions: On your post of receiving this award, make sure you include the person that gave you the award and link it back to them. When you post your five winners, make sure you link them as well. To add the award to your post, simply right-click, save image, then "add image" it in your post as a picture so your winners can save it as well. To add it to your sidebar, add the "picture" gadget. Also, don't forget to let your winners know they won an award from you by emailing them or leaving a comment on their blog. (Blah, blah, blah...)

Five (Fabulous?) Addictions
1. Chapstick (anyone who really know me knows this already.)
2. Spanish (Hello! See blog title.)
3. Travel (I've sorta gone cold turkey lately, and it's really getting to me...but don't worry, I'll be back in an airport in two weeks. Too bad my destination isn't exactly exotic.)
4. Eggnog (This addiction comes and goes with the seasons, and I've already expounded on it in a previous post, so I'll stop here.)
5. Jon (I keep waiting to get sick of him, but it never seems to happen...every day I start to get excited waiting for him to come home.)


And now to pass on the award...(dun, dun, dun)

1. Maria (Okay, so she doesn't actually blog that much, but most of her posts include pictures of my niece Brooklyn, which makes this one of my favorite blogs to read. And maybe if I give her this award she will be motivated to blog a little more often.)
2. Stephanie (Steph is not only one of my oldest and bestest friends, but she is also one of the best bloggers I know. Always entertaining, always honest, and always up-to-date.)
3. Ashley (One of my favorite mission companions, and now, one of the cutest and most down-to-earth moms out there...at least, that's what I gather from her blog.)
4. Hannah (She's also guilty of occasional blog neglect...aren't we all?...but every post is side-splittingly funny. Fitting for my funniest cousin...now no one get offended out there...if you want to go up against Hannah for the title, I'd be happy to arrange a stand-up show-down. And I'm betting on Hannah.)
5. Vanessa (One of my favorite friends. If you visit her blog, you'll see why. Always interesting and always "educational". Love it. )

Thanksgiving!

We have had a fantastic Thanksgiving weekend, and are more than a little sad that it's over. I can't even describe how difficult it was to get out of bed this morning and go to work. To top it all off, I have parent-teacher conferences tonight...every teacher's favorite night of the year! My parents and siblings were all together for the holiday in Utah, and though I miss them lots, I didn't feel sad being the only one far away thanks to great east coast family we got to spend our time with.

The festivities started nearly a week ago. On Tuesday night Jon and I drove to Virginia to meet up with Lauren who had caught a ride up from SVU with Lisa and Bill who were coming up from West Virginia (thanks guys!) . It was fun to get to chat with them for a little bit, though the visit was definitely too brief. We drove the hour and a half back to good ol' Nottingham, MD and crashed (for the night, not the car). Wednesday Jon and I both had to work, so Lauren had the house to herself for a bit. I got off by 1 pm, and Jon took a half day, so we spent the afternoon making pies, glorious pies, and the in the evening picked Chris up from the bus station (he rode down from NYC). It was so fun to have them with us! We had a spaghetti dinner, made a couple more pies, and went to bed early.
Thursday morning, we packed our bags and pies, hopped in the car, and headed back down to Virginia to spend the holiday with Jon's uncle and aunt, Brad and Joy. The traffic was surprisingly light, and we made good time. We spent the morning hanging out, watching Elf, tossing around footballs and frisbes, and Jon, Chris and Lauren even joined Brad in the back yard for some archery lessons. We had a fabulous meal together, and finished a few pounds heavier than we started. After a brief trip to Doug (cousin)'s in-laws for visiting and a visit from Santa Clause, we headed back to Brad and Joy's for pie and football (hook 'em horns!) I must confess that while football is definitely growing on me now that I somewhat understand the rules, I was exhausted, and fell asleep before half-time, at which point, Jon dragged me downstairs to bed. I was very grateful.
Friday morning Doug and Pam, along with little (adorable) Hannah, came over for breakfast, and we had a great time eating more food and chatting. Then we packed our bags, and followed Brad to the shooting range for some "skeet" (which I gather to mean shooting clay pidgeons with shotguns. News flash: I always imagined that "clay pidgeons" looked like pidgeons. If you're like me, I have news for you. They don't. They look more like tiny ceramic frisbes). I was a little bit hesitant about the whole activity. Let's just say I'm not really a "gun person". However, I was pleasently surprised! We ended up having a blast! And with Uncle Brad's expert advise, I met my goal of hitting one "bird" (frisbe). Chris and Jon tore it up, and Lauren turned out to be quite a natural herself. From the range, we got back in the car and headed toward MD, but not without a stop or two before getting there. Thanks Brad and Joy, for the awesome Thanksgiving!!

All that shooting made us hungry, so we stopped at a place that came highly recommended on our GPS (aka it was only 1.4 miles away) for some "New York" style pizza. Chris, our resident New Yorker wasn't overly impressed, but the rest of us thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Post-pizza we headed to our next stop: Ticonderoga Farms, to purchase a Christmas tree! We will be in Utah for Christmas and Texas for New Years, but we wanted to put up a tree of our own anyway, and thought the experience of cutting our own was too good to pass up. The particular place we went had more than just trees...it also had slides, and a hayride. I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story.

We made it home without losing our tree from the roof of the car, and threw together a quick stir-fry for dinner. After re-fueling, we decorated the tree and the house, and we are now ready for Christmas. :)

We spent the rest of the weekend lounging, watching movies, shopping, eating, going to church, and eating some more. Sunday night came all too soon. Chris headed back to NYC this morning, and Lauren is taking off tonight with a guy from our ward who also goes to SVU. It will be lonely around here without them. (Note: visitors are always welcome!)

Now it's back to the grindstone for three more weeks, and then....Christmas Break!! I can NOT wait!

Leininger Family Holiday Hoedown

As you can see we've spent way too much time online today...

Checking for Accuracy...

Jon suggested I check to see how accurate this thing is by putting in pictures of my mom and dad. Here's what we got...I say not bad! Which Haynie sister do you think this looks the most like?

Feeling Inspired

Seeing our "baby" inspired me, and I decided to check out the offspring of my siblings. Presenting....

Brooklyn in a few years?

Joseph & Megan's future child

Diana & Jonny's child-to-be

So...what do you all think?

News Flash!

So, I found out what our baby is going to look like. Pretty cute, if I do say so myself. Jon thinks our little peach looks like him. Who do YOU think he/she looks more like?

Classics.

I have been meaning to write a post about food storage, but I have been too tired/lazy to upload the pictures from our camera, so maybe I'll do that later, and for now, I will post something else I have been thinking about for awhile. My movie collection. Which is seriously lacking. In fact, I think I personally own about 2 or 3 movies and the rest I inherited when I married Jon. Most of his are of the action genre, which isn't particularly bad, but is not particularly good either. We really need to build up our collection of classics. The kind of thing we can raise our kids on. Wholesome, entertaining, and uplifting. So I made a wish list, just so I don't forget, and I will post it here, in no particular order.

Singing In the Rain
Anne of Green Gables
Anne of Avonlea
Meet Me in St. Louis
The Music Man
Christy
While You Were Sleeping
The Sound of Music
Pride and Prejudice (long version)
Little Women
Mulan
The Lion King
Aladin
The Little Mermaid
Cinderella
Beauty and the Beast
Peter Pan
Robin Hood
Newsies


I would also appreciate any suggestions. After reading this list you should have some kind of idea what type of movie I am talking about, so please, use the comment button to share your favorites!

5 things I've been thinking about...

1. I'm glad this whole election business is over, even though it didn't all turn out how I hoped. I am grateful that Prop 8 passed, and I am feeling peaceful about Obama as President, and looking on the bright side. For one, I think he has a totally adorable family and I am a little jealous of his two daughters who get to live in the White House. See, my dreams of being a First Daughter were crushed at a young age when I found out that Presidents of the United States must be natural-born citizens. My dad was born in Peru, and I was pretty darn sure that that was the only thing that really stood in his way (still am really...well, that, and a lack of desire to be involved in politics...). It was a tragic moment for a young girl. However, with the ambiguity about Obama's birth country, maybe I shouldn't have given up quite so easily. My sister (who will not be named here) didn't. She wrote my dad in on the ballot. Maybe more of us should have done that...I DO like him a lot better than any of the candidates I had to choose from.

2. Modern medicine=good. However, it's maybe not quite the miracle drug I originally thought it to be. I'm learning that I still might be sick every once in awhile. But I'll tell you what. Vomit once a day is a WHOLE lot better than vomit four times a day. So I'll take it!

3. Eggnog=a complete meal. I think I have pretty much always felt this way. At least since college when my parents were no longer around to supervise my eggnog intake. You have to down a couple glasses to really make the meal, but it's got the protein, the dairy, and it's just plain delicious! I look forward to eggnog season* all year! I just love the stuff! In fact, this year I got the very first eggnog of the season. The grocery store guy had to go in the back to find it for me because it wasn't even out yet. And it sure is delicious! One disclaimer though- I am SO not down with homemade eggnog. The stuff totally grosses me out!

4. "Seriously, are these fall colors real???" That's what I think every time I go anywhere. For those who have never spent an autumn on the east coast, I highly recommend it. It's like, trees are EVERYWHERE, and all of them are totally gorgeous. It's a wonder that I haven't run anyone off the road while staring at the trees.

5. Looking forward to my two dates with Jon this weekend. Saturday we are going out to eat downtown and then attending a Baltimore Symphony Orchestra concert. We've seen them once before and they are fantastic. Tonight we're going to Costco for a food storage acquisition and cheap pizza date. We might even score some free samples while we're at it. Is it bad to admit that I'm kind of looking forward to Costco more? I mean, I really like the BSO, honestly. It's just that I haven't been to Costco in a really long time, and well, it's Costco!

*Eggnog season: the time of year between Halloween and New Years when eggnog is sold in many stores and readily available.

Seriously!?!?

Hope everyone is making it out to vote today, or has voted early in states that allow it. Jon voted early this morning on his way to work, and I'm headed out soon.

I have had the sick feeling throughout the entire campaign that this year it's not really about the issues (now that I think about it, is it ever?). I'm not crazy about either candidate, but I wish that people would pay attention to who the candidates are and what they stand for more than what they are (ie. white, black, old, charismatic, etc.) Anyway, Jon sent me this sound clip today and I was absolutely astounded. Seriously, you need to listen here for an explanation of why some people are voting for Obama. YIKES!! No matter who you vote for, do it for the right reason!

Well, we shall see the outcome shortly, and the good news is, no matter what happens, if we stand in holy places, we will be protected from the storm. Happy voting!

Fall--My Absolute Favorite Time of Year!

We have been LOVING fall in Maryland. It is totally gorgeous here, and these pictures definitely don't even do it justice, but yesterday to celebrate Halloween we finally made it to a local pumpkin patch. We've been wanting to go all season, but with sickness, tiredness and business, we ended up putting it off until now. I used my theatre makeup skills to once again create a low-key but surprisingly effective "costume" for Jon and I. We were going to a non-costume Halloween party, so we thought this was a good middle ground.
We took some shots at the Pumpkin farm which is in such a beautiful area, not so far away, that I thought aloud that when the time comes to buy, we should start our search there. It was very country and reminded me of my upbringing. Jon thought this was a really cool one of me "walking into the light". Procrastination definitely had its consequences, but we managed to find a couple of decent pumpkins anyway (don't be alarmed--the hanging man behind Jon's head is just a scare crow...looks pretty creepy though).
After the pumpkin patch (where we picked up some fresh cider to boot) we headed to a Halloween party with some of Jon's work friends. We got busy carving our pumpkin. We decided to collaborate and donated the larger lumpier pumpkin to some friends whose pumpkin procrastination was not as fruitful as ours. I was the scraper of the insides and the designer, and Jon was the cutter of the design (engineering makes him good at that--very detail oriented). The results were not so bad if I do say so myself. I like to call this look "HELP! I'm stuck in a pumpkin!"


On another note, Thursday evening we had the pleasure of meeting up with Shane who was in DC for a job interview on Friday (we thought he should have shown up decked out in a Halloween costume). He took the train from DC to a cute town called Odenton, MD, which is on the way to our area from DC. We met him there and drove to locations designated by Maria as potential future abodes for the Oka family. Of course, this is NOT an announcement that they are moving here. It is one of several possibilities, but we had a great time hanging out with Shane and checking out Odenton. After doing our "homework" we headed to a local Italian place for dinner. It was pretty authentic and really yummy, but unfortunately we grossly underestimated the size of a 14" pizza. I managed about 1 slice, leaving Jon and Shane to do most of the dirty work. I'm ashamed to say that we ended up with pizza in our fridge. :)

And just for good measure, I stole this picture from my dad's blog, but I just can't get over how cute my niece Brooklyn is, dressed up as an apple for Halloween! I think she totally has Shane's smile in this pic!

Top Ten Headlines in Leininger Town

10. Young Women Make Dinner at Leininger Home

I am the second counselor in the Young Women's organization in our ward, which means weekly mutual activities. We frequently work on a skill that the girls would like to develop, and this particular week, we had chosen cooking. In keeping with the "warming only" rule in the chapel's kitchen, we had the young women over to our place for the endeavor. We decided on a simple stir fry, and let the girls do virtually all of the work. We had a great time, and the food was delicious. I just love these girls!


9. Sarah Gets Her Hair Cut

I was getting SO sick of my long hair. It was to the scraggly point, and the humidity out here is very unforgiving. So I chopped it off. I neglected to take a before shot, but let's just say that I lost about 6 inches. I am a big fan of the new, short(er) hair.


8. Jon Pulls Solid "A" on Project Proposal

Jon has started grad school at Johns Hopkins in engineering, and so we're back to the homework thing. He spent hours and hours and hours in the office working on a project proposal for his class that dealt with an automatic hour logging system for big rig trucks. And that was only after the hours and hours and hours he spent deciding on a project, changing it, and deciding on another one. Lots of research and lots of hard work. It paid off though...he pulled a solid 97%. I was very proud of my intelligent and diligent husband.

7. Maryland Family Watches All Four Conference Sessions from Comfort of Own Home

Comcast does not carry any station that broadcasts general conference, but thanks to the Church's amazing new media player and Jon's tech savvy, we were able to hook up our laptop to our TV and watch conference from the couch. It was wonderful. Not only the couch of course, but the inspiring messages. I just love general conference!!! The only thing that would have made it better would have been spending the Sunday afternoon session in Fairview with the fam. We missed you guys!


6. Father Visits Prodigal Children

Having two sets of parents now that we are married is a little confusing. Therefore, for the purposes of this blog, our respective fathers shall henceforth be called Dad Doug (Jon's) and Papa Joe (mine). Dad Doug popped in for a quick visit on his way to visit Lauren at SVU for Parent's Weekend. He brought with him many gifts including lots of books that we have been wanting to read, yummy Texan bbq sauce, delicious Texan pecan candy, and a trip to dinner on him. He also brought us epic movie "The 10th Kingdom" which we spent the next week and a a half watching. It was great to see him, and we had a super fun time. Thanks Dad Doug!


5. Couple Visits Aquarium, Attends Dolphin Show

We finally headed downtown to the National Aquarium, which just happens to be in Baltimore. It is right on the water and it was fantastic. We liked the huge sting rays and the Dolphin show, but our favorite was the long-horned cowfish. If you've never seen one, well...it resembles a floating block of cheese with a cow's face. Pretty incredible.


4. Cougar Fans Reunited with Football After Long Absence

Comcast also does not carry any station that broadcasts BYU football games (I think we need to switch cable companies) so it's been a long and dreary season for us as we hear about our friends enjoying the wonderful winning streak. We, like the rest of you, were disappointed last week, but hopeful that this week would bring better news. We were thrilled that our friends (and subscribers to Direct TV) Trevor and Sarah invited us over to watch the game with them today. We were even more thrilled with the exciting win! Go Cougs! It's good to be back. Also, I'm pretty sure we saw Kirsti on TV. That was exciting.


3. Baltimore Youth Takes Life-Changing Plunge

Our friend Kayla is the newest member of our Young Women group. Though she has been attending Sunday meetings and Wednesday activities for awhile now, she was baptized on Saturday October 18th. I got to give a talk at her baptism, and felt very privileged. Kayla was raised by her grandparents, and her grandfather recently became active in the church after 28 years and introduced Kayla to the missionaries. She is really amazing in her dedication, understanding of the scriptures, and application of the gospel. She has even already started Personal Progress! We love Kayla and are so excited to continue to grow with her!


2. Sarah Turns 27

I turned 27 on Thursday, the 23rd, and feel dangerously close to 30. You think it will never come, but then, there it is, just around the corner. That's okay though. I'll be a young 30 when that time comes. I have a pretty bad cold this week, and haven't been feeling too well, so instead of a night out, Jon brought home our favorite, PF Changs, and we celebrated at home. I got wonderful gifts from Jon and from home, and a flaming cake to top it all off! Thanks to everyone who made it a special day.

1. Baltimore Couple to Celebrate First Anniversary With Bang

Yep. We're having a baby!!!!!! We are SO excited! I'm due May 24th, one day after our anniversary, so for all intents and purposes...ON our anniversary. What a way to celebrate! This ultrasound was taken at 6 weeks for dating purposes, and the little dot on the left is what was then an embryo, and is now a fetus, about an inch in length (roughly the size of a medium green olive according to the book). When we got married I thought I wanted 12 kids, but now, after a month of nausea and vomiting, I think we might stop at one. ;) However, yesterday my doctor finally prescribed a miracle drug called zofran, and I am a new woman. I have eaten for two days in a row, and might actually start gaining weight now. I can go to work without wanting to die, and when at home, do more than lie on the couch and cry, with brief trips to kneel before the porcelain throne. A big shout out to my amazing husband who made many a trip to the local 7-11 for coke slurpees (they do wonders for a sick tummy), took over all household chores, and was on his own for dinner every night for a month, and to my mom and sister Maria who spent hours talking to me on the phone, distracting me from my misery, and generally getting me through it. I know that there are many women who have been much worse off than me, and I can only say that I now have even more respect for mothers than I did in the past. Especially those like my own mom who did this again and again. And pre-miracle drug zofran at that! I am so excited for this adventure and blessing, and so glad that thanks to modern medicine, I have myself back. I cooked today for the first time in a LONG time, and I think Jon is excited too. :)