Family Reunion... aka, "The Zierenberg Zoo!"

This post is going to be a continued work in progress.


Click on the picture to see it bigger.

Classic

Lest you judge her, keep in mind that of all of us that tried, Wendy was the only one that took the paddle board out in deep water and back without ever falling. . . until the end, of course. I could hardly stay up at all, but I'll blame it on my shifted center of gravity and loss of stomach muscles... Make sure the volume is decent--the 2nd best part is her scream. That's Sam on the boogie board.

Sam's BYU Grad

Sam wanted me to show that this is "proof" that he has officially graduated.

Sam graduated from Brigham Young University, Civil Engineering, Cum Laude, April 23 and 24, 2009.

Sam's parents flew for out for half the week to celebrate with us. It was great having their company and getting to know them better.

Sam and Beth.

I love being on BYU campus. It brings back so many great memories and feelings and motivates me to be a better person, as did the commencement ceremony with Pres. Dieter F. Uchtdorf and Elder Russell M. Nelson speaking. The Hinckley Center (background) wasn't even around when I graduated, but I still love this building. (I'm about 22 weeks along in this shot.)

We ate out, met Shari's friend and got a tour of the Hale Center Theater in West Valley (pretty incredible), enjoyed dinner and visiting Kaleb and Suzanne (Sam's cousin's family) and Aunt Pam and had fun playing with the kids on the trampoline, and went to the Provo temple using some family names that Shari had researched. We also took Sam's parents for a drive up Provo Canyon and visited my Aunt Beth in Heber. We stopped up at Squaw Peak. The whole weekend was cloudy and rainy, and you can see that it snowed in the mountains.

Jim and Shari

Feel free to ask me about the "van experience" we had while we were up here. Quite the surprise.

It was a great week, seeing everyone and enjoying various activities. I think my favorite part, though, was just seeing a lot more of Sam. I took the day off Friday and didn't have my usual Saturday morning commitment, and Sam didn't have any work or classes or studying to worry about. I loved waking up and being able just to talk and hang out with him without having to rush off immediately. And then having him with me throughout the whole day.

We celebrated Sam's birthday with everyone here.

Cam was one of Sam's missionary companions.

Happy Spring! April 16, 2009

Snow wasn't exactly what I had in mind for my spring break, but it's pretty cool anyway! I just hope we still get some blossoms, since many of the trees were starting to bloom.At least the duck is camouflaged now.

After taking Sam to work this morning, I had to stop by BYU's botany pond and take a few shots. Good thing I was wearing my most hideous pajama bottoms, so I could be extra noticeable, tromping around in the snow.

It's a BOY!

I'll admit, I've never cared much to see other people's ultrasounds. But seeing our own baby's form and movement was absolutely incredible. He's got Sam's nose, our wide feet, and some great little soccer legs. He was big enough that they set the due date to two days earlier--August 25th.

Three days later (April 10th, one day after hitting the 20 week mark), I couldn't sleep at night. I had gotten to bed at 10:30 or 11 after enjoying Sam's BYU grad night, and was apparently too wired from the ice cream or from beating Sam at bowling or something. I was supposed to get up at 4:45am and was super frustrated that I couldn't fall asleep.

I never did fall asleep until about 1am, but somewhere in those still hours, I felt our baby move for the first time! That was definitely worth it. It's been pretty amazing feeling the life within me. A few days after that, he was moving enough for me to feel it from the outside with my hand. I probably scared Sam calling him to come fast, but our little guy apparently went to sleep right after.

General Conference

Sam's mom got us some tickets to the Conference Center for the Sunday morning session. Beth and her friend came with us. I loved being there in the session, and I loved being in and around Temple Square. Such a beautiful place in so many ways! (My nineteen weeks was really starting to show.)

Glessie, Beth, Sam, Amber

Like so many others, Elder Holland's was one of my favorite talks from this session. And perfect to keep in mind during the Easter season.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpFhS0dAduc
One of these days I'll learn to link this better. Beth, how'd you do it?

THE GREAT RACE

A few months before she passed away, my sister Ginger ran a 5K in the Great Race with the goal of getting in under 30 minutes. Her time was exactly 29:59:55. Her friend Tiffany said that Ginger had been great about cheering and encouraging everyone else running as well. She thought running in the Great Race this year would be a fitting tribute to her memory. She designed a shirt, and 72 other friends and family of Ginger joined. I was so glad to be able to make it to be there, just for that day. (If anyone has group shots with others, please let me know!)

This is something my brother (Jason Z.) wrote about Ginge, who was 30 years old when she passed away: "Ginge, you ran a great race and you finished at 30 (at least this leg of the race). You didn't let anyone hold you back, but you definitely helped countless others along your way. You broke the tape first in our family and we look forward to seeing you when we cross the line and giving you a huge Ginger-style victory hug on the other side of the finish line. Until then, we know you will be watching us, cheering us on."

This is all our family that either ran or came to support. Derek, Heidi + Don, Jace + Jen and I were able to fly in or drive down to be there. We missed the rest that couldn't make it, but they participated in their own ways. (Double click on the picture and it should show up clearer.)

Walking to the starting line.

"Happiness" was the title of Ginger's last family blog she posted. She added it the night before she passed away.

The back of the shirts simply said "gdc" . . . for Ginger Dee Clinton.

Jace C. ran a half marathon.

Rod, Derek, Jace Z., Dad, Don, Luke, Mark, Carson ?, Tyler?, Trevor, Brady, Jace C.

Before the race: Nat, Heids, Mom, Kate, me, Jen

I have to admit, once I realized that Dad had been ahead of me for a long time, a slight bit of competitiveness came out, and I did push myself a little. I was impressed that he never stopped running, though. I took a lot of walking breaks.
I was 19 weeks along, so I wasn't supposed to really train or push myself. But I was pleasantly surprised at how much better I could breathe down at sea level! My time was 31:09. Not great (quite a few minutes slower than my last one), but better than I expected.

Enjoying all the free food afterwards. Hmmmm, Great Harvest bread!

Nat started the rolling down the grassy hill. We were both itchy for the rest of the day. Monica and I had a good time with some hula hoops too. Have her demonstrate her trick for you sometime.

Rod came in first of all our family. Monica had an injury and couldn't run. (Probably would have beat us all if she could have!) But she stood a little ways away from the finish line to cheer us on and let us know that we could run full speed the rest of the way. That really helped!

Over 70 people ran the race in Ginger's memory. Here are some of them.

A trip home is never complete without dinner at Lalo's--home of the world's best chicken tacos ever! It was great to be with the family the whole day.
Mark, Kate, Monica, Rod

Jason C., Heidi, Don, Dad, Mom
Amber, Jason Z., Jen, Natalie, Trevor, Wendy

Virginia Here We Come!

The weekend before I went to California for the Great Race, Sam went to Virginia. (Yea, people were starting to wonder about us taking trips separately. Believe me, I would have much preferred that we could have both gone to both places together!) Virginia Tech flew him out to check out their grad program. (Yep, he's a smarty.)

Sam stayed with my sister Summer and her family. Ever since Murphy (Summer) and I realized Sam was looking into Virginia Tech (Clint is in med school out there), we've been careful not to get our hopes up too much. Every time Sam would say something leaning towards VT, I'd call her up and tell her the news, but warn her again not to get her hopes up, and I'd try not to get mine up either. How cool would that be if we ended up living in the same town all the way on the other side of the U.S.?

Clint, Lindy, Sum, Paige, Kaden

Sam didn't get any pictures of the campus activities, but he got this great shot of himself with Kaden.

This is Paige's little smiley smirk I've heard so much about that I can't wait to see in person!

Summer called me as soon as Sam was on the plane back to Utah and joked, "I just want you to know, I've prayed about it and fasted about it, and I feel really good about you guys moving out here." :) Turns out, after getting a better view of the program out there, Sam was feeling pretty good about it, but it wasn't until a week later (after we'd been praying and fasting about it for months) when I was in California that he told me on the phone that he wanted to go to Virginia Tech for sure. No need to convince me!

Exhausted

This has been one of Sam's heaviest semesters with 19 credits (three of those credits for being an ASCE student officer--BYU's chapter of a civil engineering association), getting ready to graduate and applying and figuring out what grad school to go to and what he wants to go into, and working 20 hours a week. Plus he's taken a two-day trip for a student leadership conference in San Francisco, a two-day trip to help Beth (his sister) drive and move out here, a three-day trip to Virginia Tech to see what they have to offer, and keeping up with all the usual church and family responsibilities and making time for me (and doing all the laundry, dishes, etc.). This is when I found him asleep while attempting to read one of his books. Isn't he cute?

Petroleum. . . Jelly?

Some of you know a few basic things about me: 1) I have a tendency to carry plastic baggies (or ziplock bags) with me at all times (along with other things, like a flashlight and pocketknife--you never know when you'll need them). 2) I can't live without Vaseline--I use it both as a lip balm and for my hands. (You have to get it in just the right ratio of water: Vaseline so it doesn't stay gooey--thanks to Dad for teaching me the trick that works better than anything else I've ever tried).

Well, Friday I was at a science teacher conference. I had just grabbed another bagel at the breakfast when they announced that we had to be in the auditorium within one minute before the doors were locked for the keynote speaker. I wrapped my bagel in a napkin and threw it in my backpack. There was no food allowed in the auditorium, but after a while of struggling to stay awake, I thought I could sneakily eat some of my bagel to help keep me awake. Not wanting to get crumbs in my backpack, I felt around for a ziplock bag I knew I had just put in my bag. I found it, carefully placed the bagel in it, and continued to enjoy my breakfast as I listened to the speaker and watched his PowerPoint in the dark room. I kept the bagel in my backpack, just reaching down every now and then to tear off a piece.

I was down to the last quarter of the bagel when I felt something slimey. My first thought was that it was the part of the bagel that had gotten a little bit of cream cheese on it, but I was pretty sure I had eaten that first. I reached to the other side of the bagel and again felt the sliminess. Must be a really juicy raisin, I thought. I put it in my mouth and started to chew. After a few seconds, I knew what I had done--put the bagel in a bag that I was using for a little bit of Vaseline! For some reason, I continued to chew and swallow it. Leaving wasn't an option--I was in the back in the middle of a very crowded row.

I'm still not sure why I didn't spit it out. Maybe because it was only a tiny bit, but I didn't know how much it would affect me later. I was grossed out for a bit, but it wasn't too bad. . . until I tried to use Vaseline in my normal manner later on that day. Suddenly, having it on my lips was disgusting. Out of necessity, I've continued using it, but I'm grossed out every time, especially if I eat right after I apply. When I was telling Sam the story later, I had to stop giving him details because it was literally making me gag. I'm hoping that since the kind I have is scented (actually a generic kind that is cheaper), the unscented won't bother me as much.

If there were any questions in anyone's mind, I'd like to strongly confirm that even though it's called petroleum "jelly," it's definitely not the kind of jelly you want to eat on your bagel.

Belly

<--This is my belly when I was a kid. This is what I feel like my belly is like now (at 12 weeks).


Okay, so to answer a few requests, this was me at 12 weeks, when I really started to notice the difference. I was pretty disappointed by this picture, though. I sware it was bigger in real life. But maybe that's because this picture was taken about four hours after I'd eaten. It's right after I ate that it really stuck out. I think I'm done with the profile shots, though. At least for putting them on the blog.

Choo-choo Train Heartbeat

(excerpt from my journal 2/08/09)
It seemed like it was taking the nurse forever to find the baby's heart beat at my first doctor's appointment (11 weeks along). For a few seconds I panicked and even wondered if I'd made this whole pregnancy thing up (weight gain and all), but of course I was just a little too excited. Then I heard the "choo-choo train" sound I'd heard about. I can't really describe the feeling of having a little more evidence of something (someone!) living and growing inside of me. I couldn't help smiling in awe and excitement. It only lasted a few seconds and then moved away. It was disappointing to be over so quickly, but still pretty amazing. (For the record, at my next appt. a month later, the nurse named mine the "favorite baby of the day" for being the easiest little heart beat to find.)

Snow Fun

Sam and I went to Rock Canyon Park to play in the snow a couple of weeks ago. You can see that we still only have the bibs from Mom that are from the 70's. Stylish, I know. We are both new to the snowboard, but had a lot of fun with it.

Monday Sam suggested we hike up Rock Canyon trail and then sled back down on his snowboard--with us both sitting down on it. I had my doubts, but it was tons of fun. A bit painful (we'd recommend using padding), but quite the ride. Afterward, we hiked back up just a bit and tried actual snowboarding again, which was difficult on the packed down path with ruts. Sam did well, but I got going a little too fast. I pathetically yelled for Sam to catch me. He really tried, but I tried to turn to stop and took a very painful fall. One of those times where you can't talk or you'll cry. Fortunately, just bruises on my backside.

I've been tagged!

Winks tagged me, so here we go. . .

I am: Amber
I think: I actually need team sports (despite my lack of ability). Any other method of exercise is not nearly as invigorating, enjoyable, or as good a workout for me.
I have: 37 nieces and nephews (34 on the Z side, 3 on Sam's side). (Someone correct me if I'm wrong.)
I dislike: dim lighting, sea food, mayonnaise, egg yoke (unless it's scrambled with the white part), uncomfortable clothes, being cold all the time
I miss: all my family, especially those I didn't get to see at Christmas
I fear: "nothing, when I am in the right!" (Quick, Buddy, what movie is that from?) Actually I sometimes really fear the phone. I can get nervous just calling someone to set up a visiting teaching appointment or calling an old friend. If it's about a job or calling a parent of one of my students, a lot of times I have to write down what I'm going to say before I call. And stare at the phone for many minutes. I'm definitely not as bad as I used to be, but it can still be pretty pathetic.

I feel: awful right now. Sam and I either have food poisoning or the flu. Why don't I appreciate my good health when I have it?
I hear: Sam attempting to eat oatmeal, but he says it's exhausted him just eating half the bowl of his instant packet.
I smell: like the food I cook. (If I cook anything with onions, garlic, etc., my coat or sweater soaks up the aroma.)
I crave: fruit and vegetables normally, but my junk food cravings often win.
I cry: more than I used to, and I'm getting worse at hiding it
I usually: sleep with my pillow over my head; prefer my fruit and drinks (water and juice) lukewarm
I search: for information about my great, great grandfather, George B. Reid. Okay, so I haven't done much research yet, but I've been promising Grandma for a year. I'm determined to really dig in now.
I wonder: where Sam and I will be next year (for his grad school)--UC Davis, BYU, Virginia Tech, or somewhere else?
I regret: missed opportunities to serve/befriend others

I wish: I could speak Spanish a lot more fluently and that I had a space to grow a garden
I love: the gospel, Sam, my family, being outdoors, BYU Creamery's fresh made salsa (except the thought of it right now....)
I care: about how Winks is doing
I always: notice trees
I worry: about the USA's trend towards emphasizing rights and freedom without putting emphasis on personal responsibility, and the climb towards socialism.
I am not: as young as people who don't know think I am (parents of my students, the lunch ladies who give me student prices until corrected, temple workers, neighbors, etc.)
I stand by: the heater. I am always cold!
I remember: good times with my sister Ginger and her goodness.
I believe: in the restored gospel of Jesus Christ

I sing: while I play my guitar or ukulele
I don't always: treat others as kindly as I intend to
I write: songs and in my journal (somewhat obsessively)
I win: when Sam and I try to give each other the most bounce on the trampoline (actually, that's not as true as it used to be--I think he's figured it out)
I lose: every time I play against Melissa (sister-in-law)
I listen: better if I'm not multi-tasking. I've discovered that I can't even cook and talk (listen) to Sam at the same time, unless it's something I've made many times before. I've also noticed that I am a very one-track minded person. When someone suddenly starts talking to me, I often give a blank look (or a much-delayed answer) until I can switch my brain to drop my last thought and think about the new stimulus).
I can usually be found: at home or school (teaching). Or at Macey's grocery store. I love that place!
I need: sunlight and warmth
I forget: to turn off the lights on Sam's car (mine turn off automatically). Fortunately, he's caught it twice, and someone was around to give me a jump start the other time.
I am happy: when I take time to recognize the many blessings I've received and work to be worthy of them.

I tag. . . Jason Z and Beth

Electrifying!

Sam and I played the "Shock" game on the trampoline with some of our nieces. Everyone links pinky fingers, gets full of static, and feels the electric shock move through them when a person on the end touches a metal spring. The girls' hair was awesome.

Working on the Ranch

Sam joined Dad and Derek fixing a fence. The horse was curious and eventually started nibbling on Sam.