Baby

I think about the baby inside of me all the time.  I know pretty much nothing about it (including its gender), which sometimes drives me crazy.  I think part of the reason I care so much to know the gender is because I know that technology exists that will tell me the gender of my child.  We're now 19 weeks, which means next week I would generally have an ultrasound that usually uncovers the gender.  I go back and forth.  I want a boy and a girl!  (Unless I'm having twins and unaware of it, that won't happen.)  I'm not wanting to have twins, p.s., in case that was confusing.  In all honesty I wouldn't care, except that my due date is 4 days after my last exam of college ever.  This is starting to get wordy, so I'll make my point...Probably in about 5 or 6 weeks, I will go to the doctor again and hopefully hear good news and learn the gender of this baby.  I've bugged pretty much all of my family about what the gender will be already, but if anyone else would like to guess, that would be fun for me.

P.S.  I have no idea what I think it will be and have decided not to decide.  If I decide which it is, I will be disappointed if I'm wrong, so I want either and it can be either, but I won't be disappointed if you guess and are wrong.  I'm just prideful I think.  I like to be right most the time.  :)

My New Job

My brother got me a job.  I'll just call it a very very part time job.  He brings home a bucket of screws from his roofing job and I put a metal thing on each screw.  That's my new job.  I started today.  One bucket doesn't take very long and they're paying me.  This is good news.  However, when the buckets run out, I no longer have a job.  I guess that's not a bad thing since I'm going back to Utah in 3 weeks anyway.

On a much lighter and basically pointless note

There's a street here called Nottawasaga.  Every time I see it I have this dumb thought...not just once, but every time.  It's amusing to me and probably only to me, but I decided I will share it with you.  I think Nottawasaga is a humorous name.  It seems to me it would be amusing to give streets names that start with Not.  For example, we live on Kipling, wouldn't it be amusing if near us there was a street called Notkipling.  Then someone could ask, "Is this Kipling?" and you could answer, "This is Notkipling."

Prayers

You might think that since I titled this prayers that I'm going to tell you how significant it is and how important and great it is, but I'm not.  (However I do think all those things.)  I'm asking for prayers for my cousin, Ryan's cousin, and my aunt.  My cousin (exactly 6 months younger than me) found out this week that he has cancer.  It cannot be treated with chemo or radiation, only surgically.  I don't know any details about it (I don't think he does yet either).  Ryan's cousin had cancer too (Leukemia, I think).  I don't know the details at all, but I understand that it is a struggle for her right now.  My aunt does not have cancer, but she did recently have a knee replacement surgery and found out that she needs another knee surgery soon.  She is also the mother of my cousin with cancer and probably stressed more than I can understand.  So, these are three people in my life who I feel could use extra prayers, so if you think about it sometime after reading this post, I'd appreciate prayers in their behalf.  (Thanks!)

Update (Not eloquently written)

So as I said earlier, Ryan's parents are coming...only now they've come and gone already.  :(  It was so good to see them though.  We took them to the Toronto Temple and hung out with Nita and played a long game of hearts.  They came to church with us and we were so so glad to have them!  On Monday I tagged along and we watched the boys at Terri's house.  It was fun and seemed way too short.  (Ryan wasn't able to see them at all on Monday because he is at an overnight camp until Thursday.)  We're just glad that this year we'll get to see them for Christmas!

Fall Housing

Ry and I found a place in Orem we thought would be absolutely perfect to live for at least the next semester.  It took us forever to get approved.  After getting approved, we asked a lot of questions.  We found out that if we wanted a month-to-month contract it cost an extra $100/month and if we ended a year contract early we had to pay $600 (both of which we think are overpriced) so we won't be living there.

Good news is that at the same time our old landlord contacted us and said she had something for us.  She helped us get approved really fast and gave us a contract for the end of August to the end of December, pretty much perfect.  This means no extra fees for selling a contract or having to sign up early or anything.  To make things even better, it's cheaper than we paid last year.  We're quite pleased.  :)

One Thing More

Ryan's parents are coming to Toronto to visit us and Nita and James and Finn.  They'll only be here for a few days, but we're SO EXCITED to see them!

Palmyra

We went to Niagara Falls and Palmyra yesterday.  I'd been there before, but this was Ryan's first time.  We saw the Palmyra Pageant.  It was the last day of its showing for this year.  

Ryan says to tell you that Niagara Falls was fun and there was a lot of water.  It was a little smaller than he expected.  We stood next to the river and he could see how shallow it was.  After Niagara Falls the water drains into Lake Ontario (which he still has yet to go swimming in).  

Ryan also says Palmyra was fun.  We saw where Joseph Smith lived as a boy and his family lived there too.  We went to the Sacred Grove, which is a very happy, peaceful place.  While we were there, we saw Laila and Peter and her mom.  That was fun too.  I rambled a little too much to them about liking to stalk people on facebook.  :)  The sacred grove was a very special experience.  What made it especially good was sharing it with each other.

We also visited the printing house where the first copies of The Book of Mormon were made.  We didn't know that it took more than 2 years to make 5,000 copies, but in reality, it did!  We're glad to be members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The last thing we did was watch the Hill Cumorah Pageant.  You'll have to see it sometime.  I think that you should visit Palmyra at least twice, once at pageant time, once not at pageant time.  More times is good too.  I've been there several times.  I don't even know how many several is and I'll be going again sometime!  :)

When I grow up...

I finally discovered what it is I want to be when I "grow up".  I want to be June Pallin.  Ryan and I have used context clues to decide she must be 78 years old.  She lives kiddy-corner from us, across an intersection.  She's in our ward, so I guess it's amazing she lives so close.  Yesterday we had a relief society activity at the church.  It wasn't anything particularly exciting, but I went and June (Sister Pallin is what I really call her) was there.  I found myself observing her, for no particular reason.  This is what I saw (sorry I don't have pictures of what I saw).

I saw a woman that was always smiling.

I saw a woman who was not ever afraid to shower the world with uplifting comments, just because they were true.

I saw a woman who saw every other person before she ever thought of herself.

I saw a woman who truly has learned to be like Jesus Christ.

I saw all of this while at the church for a short relief society activity and I saw it all through action.  It makes me think that Christ really didn't need to preach about who he is in order for it to be evident.  It's obvious when you meet such a person that they're just somebody special!

This may seem like the end of my thoughts, but fortunately, relief society was not the end of yesterday's interactions with June Pallin.  After the activity, we were both given a ride home.  I told them to just drop me off at the Pallin's because I could walk home from there.  When we were dropped off and I was walking home Sister Pallin said, "Melissa, it's not very late, would you like to come in and visit for a while?"  I was more than happy to oblige her, but went and grabbed Ryan first.  June's husband, Everett Pallin, has encouraged me to come over ever since we got here.  We tried once (and yes only once), but they weren't home.  Ryan was also more than thrilled to go visit with he Pallins.  Here are some things that really impress me about their church service (they aren't ones to brag, but I'm sure one to brag for them).

• Converts in their early marriage, trust me, if you knew them, you would suspect they'd been members forever and ever.  It's hard to imagine the Pallins ever weren't.
• Toronto Temple President
• Mission President (I believe in Atlanta)
• Parents of 8 children (apparently I consider this church service)
• Close friends of both President Monson (Brother Pallin was his assistant when he was the Toronto Mission President) and Elder Ballard (who was also a mission president here), I suppose not exactly church service, but church related, right?
• Stake Patriarch
• Heading up the making of the movie Joseph Smith in Upper Canada
• They're currently working on a history of the church in Toronto from the early 1800s until 1960, when the first stake was formed.  Not to mention that they're thrilled to be having their grandchildren help them.
• So many other things (including teaching primary, Sis. Pallin currently does that and Bro. Pallin mentioned some experiences last night)

So, that's a list of church things that I know about.  They also happen to be the nicest, most humble, giving people I've ever met.  Many remarks to questions and in conversation that we heard last night include...

"We have the greatest neighbors in the world.  I don't know how anyone could have greater neighbors than ours!"

"They are such an amazing family.  We're so glad that we get to know them and have that blessing in our life."

"[Regarding my Uncle Bahig]  He seems like such a nice man and he takes such beautiful care of the yard."

"[Regarding us even] We're so lucky to have you guys here in our ward for the summer.  What a blessing it is to have you guys.  We're so glad you're here."

If I haven't made my point well enough, I think that we (and everyone they probably ever meet) are the ones blessed to have them around and ever meet them.  Both of them are always seeking out others and seem to often help them meet their needs.

So, I want to be the Pallins when I grow up.  That's all.

Sunday

It seems like lately I'm doing super fun things everyday.  I don't mind.  I like it.  This Sunday we invited Pat and Joe, Andy and Nita, Terri and Lindsay, and all the small ones over for ? dinner I guess.  We never told anyone when to come though, so first Pat and her boys came, then Jer left, then Andy, Nita, and Lindsay came (Terri was out of town on business) and they brought their kids, of course.  We all hung out and James and Isaiah ran and ran and ran.  They both had sweat on their heads.  After Andy, Nita, and Lindsay left, Joe came.  We managed to eat a whole big costco tub of cream puffs.  I just thought I would add that.  When it got lower, Ryan was holding it and popping cream puffs in his mouth like popcorn.  For some reason I found that really amusing.  :)  Well, I guess there's really not actually that much to say about this.  It's hard to put into words how fun it is to just hang out sometimes.

One thing to add, since it was the final game of the world cup yesterday.  I didn't particularly care which team won.  So go Spain.  All I really wanted was for someone to win so the game would be over so that guests would come sooner.  So, I kind of wish someone had scored in the first 90 minutes and I'm glad Spain scored before the extra half hour was over.  World cup is fun though, like the olympics, except it's just a bunch of soccer games.

Medieval Times

On Saturday night we (Gido, Ryan, Jer, Brittany (his girlfriend) and I) went to Medieval Times.  I had been twice before in Las Vegas.  Once with my family when I was young and once with a high school music group.  So this was my third and probably last time going.  Mostly I wanted to go because Ryan has never been.  It's one of those things that is worth seeing once, but too expensive to see more.  (I know, I just told you I saw it three times, but the truth is I only paid for it when I went in high school and then, I had no option.)  I guess after saying that I should say thanks Gido for taking us. 

Sometimes I ramble...especially when I'm typing.

Medieval Times is a place where you sit in an arena, eat food with your hands, and watch a play (for a lack of a better word).  The play has a lot of very trained horses who do awesome tricks, and jousting, sword fighting, other weapons fighting.  It's always based around a tournament.  It's quite entertaining.  This time, both Ry and I agreed that the stage fighting didn't look too good, but the horses were amazing.  I don't remember the stage fighting being poor in the past.  It didn't really ruin anything for the show.  Overall, we had a fabulous time!  I recommend seeing Medieval Times, once, when you can get the tickets on sale.

High Park

On Saturday we met up with Andy, Nita, Terri, Lindsay, and the three littles at High Park.  Mostly I think our plan was to go swimming, so we met at the swimming pool.  It was a pretty awesome pool.  Pools in Toronto are free in the summer...thanks to Andrew for bringing that to my attention because I really didn't know that before.  They also have lots of crazy rules, especially the High Park pool.  We were a little bugged because only people wearing swimming suits were allowed out on the deck, which if this was a common rule, wouldn't have been a problem, everyone would have brought a suit.  However, other pools let people who are just observing on the deck in their clothing, so the party had to split up.  Terri, Lindsay, and Madeline went home.  Shortly after they left, Finn started being cold and not wanting to swim anymore.  So, Nita and Finn ended up going home with the others, who were not very far away yet.  The remainder of us (Andy, Ryan, James, and me) swam a bit longer.  After swimming, we went to a playground for a bit.  I think James had a lot of fun, I hope.  :)  After, Andrew drove us home.  It made for a pleasant afternoon, even with a few of the buggy things.  (Sorry about the lack of pictures and just pulling pictures from facebook, currently we have no camera, so naturally, we take no pictures.)

Canada Day

I'm not really posting things in order, but that doesn't really matter.  For Canada Day, Ry and I hung out with his brother's family (Andrew, Nita, and their two boys, James and Finn).  They are visiting Nita's mom and sister, Terri and Lindsay.  We like them all too.  It was a little bit of a cool day, but we still went swimming, Finn was the first to get out and stay out.  He thought it was very cold.  I should have written something about it earlier because we had so much fun and I can't remember all the details now.  We missed the fireworks, but that ended up not being a problem.  We walked around, hung out, and just genuinely had a good time.  I'm so glad they let us join them, especially Terri and Lindsay.  Just another note, Lindsay has a super cute baby named Madeline.  She was happy pretty much the whole time.  Maybe one of the happiest babies I've ever met!

My Nice Brother

I just keep writing things, I guess that's not a bad thing though.  I just wanted to say that also, my brother Jeremy lives with us.  He's very nice to me all the time and does lots of things for me, but mostly I wanted to mention this one thing.  He searched and searched and found window units for our bedrooms!  This is awesome because it's been a really hot week, and I'm pregnant and thus never felt so hot in my life.  :)  I was very happy to wake up in a cool room this morning instead of a hot one.  However, we may have made it a little cold at first.  I woke Ryan up super early in the morning (oops) and since I woke him up, I got him to turn it down.  It was cold, but I'm so happy for this house to now have air conditioning, at least in some rooms.  :)

These are kind of old pictures, but this is my brother!

I added this picture too because I thought it better displayed our relationship.  ;)

Gido

Gido is what I call my grandpa, it means grandpa in Arabic.  I bet that was difficult to figure out without me telling you.  ;)  He is very nice to me and 85 years old.  He probably wouldn't like me to tell you his age, but I think it's impressive.  We've been living in his house and mooching off him the whole time we've been here and I think he actually enjoys it.  He tried to tell me that we need to move to Toronto permanently because I like their dollar stores so much better.  He's cute and I wish Toronto, Utah, and where ever Ry and I end up were closer to each other.  

Mostly, I just wanted to say that I love him, am very grateful for him, and hope he lives forever!

Uncle Bahig

My Uncle Bahig lives in my grandpa's house with us.  He is the type to keep to himself and do his own thing really.  He's really my dad's uncle, my grandmother's brother.  He's a very nice man and I think quite personable.  He takes care of my grandpa's yard, he loves to, and he's good at it.

This is Bahig two years ago.  (All the pictures I have of him are from two years ago.)

The other day, I wanted crab really badly.  I announced it to everyone in the kitchen at the time and then got over the idea.  Later Uncle Bahig handed me a plastic bag with a paper bag inside of it.  I was confused and looked that way, I'm sure.  He told me to cook it and save him one.  When I looked in the bag, it was full of live crabs!  I thought that was a very nice thing to do.  We cooked them and had them for dinner and Ryan discovered that he thinks crab is pretty tasty.  Thanks Bahig!  (Who will never read this, I'm more than positive.)

This Week

7 weeks is how long we've been in Toronto, 16 weeks is how old our fetus is, and 110 degrees F has been the average humidex (how hot it feels due to humidity) for this week.  None of that is really important, apparently I just felt like listing it, but it has (for me) been a fabulous week.

I have been able to spend most of this week in Brampton with my cousin Pat and her two boys.  Well, Pat is actually my dad's cousin's wife.  I guess that makes her kids my second cousins.  Anyhow, Pat is amazing and her boys are super cute.  The 5 year-old, Isaiah, has adopted me as his personal playmate so as soon as I get to their house he brings me a toy and the rest of the day I'm supposed to be that toy.  Later in the day, my cousin Joe gets home from work too.  It's always nice to see him.  I've really appreciated the companionship (and the AC in the hot weather). 

Ryan this week has been doing a camp at his internship.  I don't know the details of it, but I do know that he has worn a light pink shirt to work everyday, which isn't a bad thing, but light pink isn't the most becoming color on him.  I prefer blues.

Over all, for me, this week has made much of the loneliness I've felt in the past 7 weeks not nearly as memorable.  I feel so much happier to be here than I have before.  :)

Arab Business and Cultural Centre

Yesterday we went to visit my Uncle Rafik and Tanta Nahed at their Arab Business and Cultural Centre.  Uncle Rafik was in Florida, so Ryan still hasn't met him.  Tanta Nahed was there though and Ryan tried all the Arabic he knew on her.  She was very impressed, at one point her and her employees clapped for him for knowing some.  Some of the Arabs kept looking at Ryan because he was so white and obviously not Arab.  They were trying to decide why he was there.  Funny!  Nahed gave us some food and now Ryan understands why middle eastern food is the greatest food ever, especially when made by my Tanta Nahed (she's the greatest cook I know).  You'll have to ask him what he thought.  I think he developed a new understanding of good food.