Hmmm..... Getting close?

I'll kind of use this post as a diary and record the symptoms that I'm having during these last days of my pregnancy. I only have 8 days until due date so I don't know when Jane will show up but I'll try to keep this post updated as the days go on. Hopefully it won't be a very long post :)

So, on Oct 23 I was talking on the phone with my mom telling her how I have absolutely no symptoms that Jane might be born any time soon. While I was saying that I started feeling my belly get hard and I had mild cramps in my lower belly and back. After walking around, eating and drinking some water they went away and I was fine. The next day I got really upset about something and soon after I started feeling more intense cramping. It lasted for a few hours and walking didn't really calm these down. It helped a bit when I sat down and used the restroom. Eventually they went away only to return about an hour later. Using the restroom helped once again and I was able to sleep through the night without any problem. The next morning I got pretty sharp pain in my lower belly while I was sitting in the car but felt better when I got out. The cramps returned again after I had breakfast and lasted for a few hours but went away once again after I had some soup for lunch. Had a few mild cramps throughout the rest of the day and evening but nothing too intense. Through all this Jane hasn't been kicking too much but whenever she moves and her head and shoulders press against my lower belly it hurts pretty bad and I feel pressure everywhere down there.

We might be getting close I guess... We'll see what happens tomorrow...

Well, I'm back. A few more days have passed and no cramps any more. It was too good to be true I guess... :) I'm getting increasingly more uncomfortable with hip joint and tailbone pain and other pains along the sides of the belly. My skin itches sometimes too. The doctor said that I measure 42 cm and that Jane's heart beat is good and strong, so we're both ok. The heartburn is still terrible and I get some back aches when I sit or stand. One thing I started noticing is that I'm getting hungry every 3 to 4 hours. I'm not excited about that especially since I gained almost 20 lbs so far but I get really lightheaded if I don't eat when I need to. Weird... It's like the second trimester all over again :0 I've been walking like a mad woman sometimes for three or four hours and I think it helped some with the progress because after I walk for a while I start getting sharp pains in my pelvis that make me stop and sometimes sit for a little bit. Of course they only come and go for a while and then go away again but maybe she's descended lower now and that's what I'm feeling. Anyway, I got 4 days till due date after which the doctor said that he'll only wait another week and then induce me if I want to. We'll see what'll happen in the next few days.

I'm back. We just turned 40 weeks today so it's Nov 3rd, the estimated due date. Before yesterday I didn't really feel anything different; just lower belly pressure. Yesterday and especially today though I've been having cramps that come and go and a really weird gooey, dark yellow discharge (sorry, I know that's gross). My tummy also hurts as if I'm having a bit of indigestion and gas. I'm hoping that this combination means that I'm actually starting to dilate and that maybe I'm loosing the mucous plug. I have an appointment tomorrow and the doctor will actually check for dilation. I'm excited and feel that I'm getting closer now. Of course, I'm also feeling a little scared and anxious but knowing that I will hold Jane in my arms soon makes me happy and impatient.

Baby Johansen (Jane) Tummy - Progress

I'm creating a baby tummy album, so I'll keep adding pictures as the pregnancy progresses. Enjoy these pictures as they keep showing up! Thanks so much for watching!

40 Weeks

39 Weeks

38 Weeks

37 Weeks

36 Weeks

35 Weeks

33 Weeks

30 Weeks26 Weeks

22 Weeks

20 Weeks

17 Weeks

14 Weeks

13 Weeks

6 Weeks

Almost there

Well, since I don't know when Jane will decide to make her appearance in the world I thought I'd post one more time with some updates and feelings I've been having.

We're 37.5 weeks and getting bigger and more uncomfortable as we speak. I was wondering before what people mean when they say that the third trimester, and especially the last few weeks of pregnancy are uncomfortable and I think I got my answer. :) They say that you forget all about it after you have your baby so I decided to write it all down just so that I'll remember it and even have something to compare against next time I go through this. So, here it goes: if you sit too long your back starts hurting or the baby pushes down on your lower belly and that can hurt. If you walk too long you can get contractions; not necessarily painful ones but contractions nonetheless. If you lie on one side your stomach hurts and when you switch to the other side (which could take like a minute or more sometimes) your ribs hurt. You can't lie on your back or belly, of course, your hip joints get sore and painful to move and no matter how little you eat you'll still feel full and have difficulty breathing. Then there's the gas, constipation, swollen ankles sometimes and painful fingers. Yeah, don't know what's up with that one! :)

But even with all this going one, there's no greater and wonderful feeling that those kicks and rolls that the baby does constantly inside your belly. I love just watching my belly move from side to side, things sticking out or just moving under the skin. One time I had the best experience when I saw baby's body actually breathing. Her body was moving up and down very gently. If I wasn't looking I would have never felt it because it was very quiet and gentle. I loved it.

We go to the doctor every week now and every time I feel a little panic when they measure me. At 37 weeks I measured 42 cm and that's a big baby in my opinion. The doctor doesn't seem to think it's that big of a deal even though he does agree that I'm probably very uncomfortable. I'm like, "Yeah, you bet I am! Can we do something about thins?" Of course I don't say it but it would be nice if Jane came out and I could hold her in my arms rather than inside my belly. Last night in my dream I was holding her very close to my chest and it felt so good and natural. I can't wait to meet her and love her.

David is wonderful through all this. He is gone all day still but when he's home he takes care of me and helps me as much as he can. I love it when he kisses my belly before he goes to work and always tells me to take care of myself and the baby. He wants Jane to be born too and even though he's scared about it he is happy and even anxious to meet her. We know that our life will change completely once she arrives but we want her here so bad and we love her a lot.

Back to the pregnancy and how uncomfortable and unpredictable it is, I say, if you think about it too much before you get pregnant, you'll probably never do it. I've talked to and heard people saying how scared they would be to get pregnant and to have a baby; that it would be so hard and that they don't think they could ever do it. I'm not saying it'll be easy but if you just follow your heart and instincts you'll be fine. And when you do get pregnant you'll be very happy and that happiness will surpass any other fear you might experience. I remember when I found out that I was pregnant something changed inside me and from that point on the baby became the priority of my life. I still love David just the same, or even more, I love my family and I'm pretty much the same but the baby is always on my mind and all I want is for her to be happy above everything else. It's the greatest feeling you'll ever experience and I wouldn't change it for anything.

Baby Johansen (Jane) Pregnancy Progress Pictures

Ultrasound 1 - 12 Weeks

Ultrasound 2 - 21 Weeks

Ultrasound 3 - 33 Weeks

Baby and Mommy are well

Blurry picture of Jane's profile

On the 9th of September we had another dr. appointment. Everything went well until the doctor measured me and decided that I was measuring way too high for 33 weeks. The story of this pregnancy! :) He said that measuring 1 or 2 cm more would be ok but according to him I was measuring 5 cm over, which would put me at 37 weeks. So, he recommended that we have another ultrasound to make sure that everything was ok. On the 14 the we had the ultrasound. I was really nervous not knowing what they were going to say. The technician measured a few things in a hurry and gave me a blurry picture after which the doctor showed up and took almost 45 min measuring everything in great detail. It wasn't because he was concerned, but because he thought that the pictures he was able to take were really good and he could use them for his re-certification exam. So, we got the thoroughest exam we will probably ever get. The doctor said that Jane is fine, just measuring a bit bigger than other babies. She is in the 67 percentile weighting approximately 5 lbs 3 oz at 33 weeks (what she would have measured if she were a little over 34 weeks). Her body together with the placenta and the amniotic fluid make for a bigger uterus size for me but nothing of concern. So, baby's well and mom is well and possibly bringing the baby into this world a little earlier than expected.

Romanian BBQ and Baby Shower Fun

At the beginning of August a few of us got together and had a little Romanian BBQ. The Geambasu's brought delicious mici, and we also had other really good food. It was fun to see Irina, Fred and their baby Ashley, Maria, Tayler and bebe Luca who is not a bebe anymore but a cute toddler, and some of the friends who still live around in Utah but we don't get to meet too often. Ever since they found out that I was pregnant, Cristina and Eni decided to organize a baby shower for me. After weeks of preparation Cristina was able to come to Utah from DC and together with Eni they put together the shower. It took place in Pleasant Grove, at Lia's apartment and it was tons of fun. So, who came to the shower? Here's the list: Cristina Boey, Eni Hawkins with her kids Aren and Adam, my sister-in-law Charity and cousin Sara, Claudine Hatch, sora Miron Zenovia from Brasov, Lia Nielson, Eve Jaynes, Ioana Goodwin, Karina Clement, Summer Kaufman, Holly Moore and Mariana Palade. Unfortunately Irina and her sister Ioana couldn't be there but they had shown their support before the shower and I know that their hearts were there with me. We played games, had yummy treats, took pictures and of course I got to open lots of cool gifts. Thank you so much to the organizers and to everyone who came. I was really happy to have you all there.

I just don't understand

Another regular month of our lives... or how 'all we need is a better job' has become our life slogan.

Maybe there isn't anything to understand... Maybe life is just supposed to not work... Maybe we have to suffer... Maybe... Maybe...

You know what? I'm tired of maybes and of hoping. I'm just so tired... But it doesn't seem to matter because apparently there's nothing I can do to change anything. Fast! Pray! Everything is gonna be allright. Everyone's having a hard time right now. It's the stupid economy. You'll be fine. I know how you feel. Life is hard. Welcome to life! We'll pray for you. Pay your tithing. Give to fast offerings. Here's another list of jobs. It can be a lot worse than this. Now you have a story to tell your children!

True story: David finds the best work opportunity yet, about a month ago. Applies to it and realizes that he actually had met someone who worked for the company and who thought he was great and gave him her business card. We go and meet her and she seems happy to see him. She introduces him to the HR lady who tells David that the position he applied for might be already taken by an internal hire but that there is another position that opened up and he should definitely apply for that one as well. She emails David a detailed application and after a few days calls him for a phone interview that goes really well. She sends him a test after which tells him that he needs to have another interview, in person this time, with the manager of the IT department. The interview goes well and they all say that it will only be a few days and he should hear back from them. A week passes and we don't hear anything. We call to follow up. The HR lady seems impressed and says that everyone likes David very much but they are still interviewing a few people who had been referred by employees and it should take another week. On Sept. 2nd, David's birthday, we have a breakfast picnic in our bedroom, I give David a little present, we spend some time together walking around at the mall and dreaming about what we would get when we have a little more money after which David goes to work until almost midnight. I'm happy that I get to wish him happy birthday one more time before his birthday is over. We get home. He checks his email and receives the news we've been so anxious to get for three weeks. A polite message lets him know that the pool of candidates has been narrowed down to just a few and that he is not a part of them but that he can always apply for other opportunities as they arise. It was still his birthday.

Another one: We move into our new apartment and call the person who promised to help us bring our mattress from Midway. We're supposed to meet him in 10 minutes. He seems confused at first about the call and then apologizes that he won't be able to help anymore. So, we sleep on the floor for the next couple of weeks until a good friend offers to help bring the bed over.

Number three: I get a nice gift of money for the baby and am so excited that I can go out and actually get a few things that we still need for when the baby gets here. A few days later David spills soup all over his jeans and nice shoes only a few minutes before he needs to leave for work in the morning. He has no other pair of jeans and he gets to wear his broken shoes to work again, all while smelling like soup for the rest of the day. It's one of those long, 16 hour days that he will have to work today; second one this week and after not having a day of rest in about a month now. If I just didn't spend all the money and we got him another pair of cheap jeans...

Last one: Through some miracle David doesn't work the Thursday morning when I'm having my doctor's appointment. We go in. My blood pressure - good, baby's heartbeat 150 - good. After measuring me the doctor seems very concerned though that my measurement is way off. I'm 32 weeks and I measure 37. He goes and talks with someone then comes back telling us that we need an ultrasound to make sure that everything is ok. Another $400 ultrasound but it's our baby and all we care about is for me and her to be healthy. Rent and utilities due in two weeks. Another month of student loan payments that we won't be able to make; hopefully they approve us and the payments will be deferred for a while... Gas cost a lot this month again... all this commuting to Salt Lake, then driving to Riverwoods, then back to Springville seems to put quite a strain on the car. Those breaks are squeaky but hopefully won't beak down. This is the only way David can get to work.

Or maybe this is the last one... On Monday I have the first of four childbirth classes. I shouldn't have used the last bit of credit on that card to register for it but I am scared about this 'natural' yet so unpredictable event that I know I'll have to go through in only a few more weeks. David works a 16 hour day again on Monday and won't be there with me. Actually I don't know if I'll even make it as he will have the car and the class is in Provo. He tells me that he'll leave work in SLC early to come get me, I'll drop him off at Borders and then I'll have the car to go to class. He'll ask Borders to not schedule him on Monday nights for the next few weeks so he could come to the last 3 classes with me. Of course, that means he'll make less money but he loves me and knows how much I need him.

He suffers. I suffer. We encourage each other but they all seem empty words. He tries so hard to take care of us but he looks so tired all the time. He never sleeps. And then there's the trains passing constantly by only 20 feet from our apartment.

Last year at this time we were just getting settled in Ireland. A month and a half later we came back and started our life over hoping for some better times. We're still hoping as we hold each other tight. I try not to cry anymore. I don't want the baby to feel my pain. Maybe she'll be born soon and then at least she won't feel my physical pain anymore. I hope we'll be fine. I hope she's healthy. I hope David will make $2000/month soon... I hope I'll be able to work after she is born... I hope... I hope...

No Gestational Diabetes!

Short post! I had another doctor's appointment on Tuesday and the doctor told me that I don't have gestational diabetes. I'm so happy. That means that the baby should be fine and that I don't have to be on a diet! I'm still watching what I'm eating but I'm glad I don't have to make drastic changes or choices. Also the measurements were good and the heartbeat sounded ok too. The doctor didn't tell me the numbers but I'll ask next time because I like knowing how we're doing.

Funny story: I was lying down getting ready for the doctor to listen to the heartbeat. He puts the gel on my tummy and then comes with the Doppler and just as he puts the device on my skin the baby kicks it away! It was so funny to watch. She did it a couple of times in a row and the doctor was like: "it looks like she didn't like that!" I smiled but it made me proud to be her mommy. She's got personality! Hahaha! Way to go little one!

Doing well

Hello everyone! Heaven't posted much in a while and that's because even though things have happened they were kind of normal pregnancy developments or work-related. Today I decided that it's about time to post an update on how we're doing, knowing that more things will happen in the next few weeks that I will want to write about as well.

So, life's been ok for us. David switched jobs within Simply Mac once again. He was initially hired part time to teach computer programs and usage to customers. Then, after doing really good in the sales department they made him full time but also asked him if he would be a sales guy. He doesn't like selling all that much but given the opportunity to work full time he accepted the challenge. After only a month of working hard doing sales a new position opened up. It was a full time teaching position, exactly what he wanted and enjoys doing so he asked the management if he could get that and they okayed it. So, starting August he works as a full time SA guy which he enjoys much more and also fits his career goals and personality. He continues working at Borders part time and puts really long days every week. I wish I could say that all his hard work is paying off financially... Things are better for us and improving slowly but there's still a long way to financial freedom and lack of major worries. We're still trying to find one job that would be both rewarding and financially stable. All this hard work and long days away from home puts a lot of stress on David and me. We don't get to spend time together and do much other than say good morning to each other in the morning and greet each other with a warm hug and a nice home-made meal (when I have the energy to make it) at night. It's hard and I really hope that his schedule will change before our little girl arrives in November because I know how much he wants to be around to love her and see her grow.

On a more positive note, our baby girl is growing fast and seems to be happy and full of energy. At the last doctor's appointment the doctor said that all the measurements are normal, including her heartbeat, which was at 140. I get so excited every time I hear her heartbeat and I thought that this time it sounded more like a heart than it did before, one more sign that she's growing and developing. On the 29th of July I had to have a mandatory glucose test (they do it sometime between the 24th and 28th week - mine was at 26 weeks) and unfortunately my glucose level was a little high so today I went in and had a three hour test, during which they have me a whole bottle of orangey, really sweet glucose drink and took blood from my arms four!!! times. Not fun. I couldn't eat for almost 16 hours and my arms are now purple and a little painful but what I really hope is that both baby and I will be ok and healthy.

One other thing that happened a couple of weeks ago is the fact that we found a cute two-bedroom apartment in Springville (just South of Provo) that we think will be great for us and our little girl. We signed the contract already and will be able to move in anytime after the first week of August when all the paining, cleaning and other work that the manager wanted to get done should be finished.

These past few weeks had been a little more fun for me thanks to my friends Eni and Lia as well. We went to see Eclipse together and just yesterday we had a great time at the Seven Peaks water park in Provo. Eclipse was awesome. It's so far my most favorite movie in the Twilight series. As I keep telling everyone, I love the books but the movies didn't impress me at all until I saw Eclipse, which was more dynamic and interesting (except for the part where the vampires break into pieces as if they were made of glass or marble). The day at Seven Peaks was fun too. The morning was hot and perfect but the afternoon brought lots of rain and thunderstorms which lingered through the night and half of today as well. Even with the rain I did manage to get a nice sunburn on my shoulders, which I kind of missed since back in Romania we used to go to the beach for a couple of weeks every summer and burn and be happy. :) So much fun. I miss those days and the Black Sea. Speaking of which, I can't believe that last time I visited Romania and my family was in 2006, before we got married and that last time I went to the beach in Mamaia was in 2004. Time flies when you're busy and I can't believe that I've been married for a little over three years, I graduated college and I'll be having a baby in about 13 weeks. I'm content with my life and with all the experiences I've been through these past years since I left. I am in love like I've never been before and I'm so happy to become a mommy. Little girl is kicking me in my ribs :) so I guess I'll go lie down for a few minutes but I just wanted to thank each and everyone of you my dear friends and family for being here for us and for loving us unconditionally. I love you too.

Our Love Story

I've been thinking about writing the story of how David and I met for a long time... actually since before we got married, but for some bizarre reason I never got around to doing it. I hope that I haven't forgotten the most important details of our relationship.

Let me start a few months before I met him because this does play a part in the story. It was towards the end of the fall semester 2005. The year's been good as far as school and work were concerned, but not as good as I wanted, especially in the "boys department". The year before, I dated Aric for a few weeks but apparently the impact had been greater than I realized. After stopping seeing each other I was left with a broken heart and a fear of trying. I didn't trust that I had anything to offer to any guy or that anyone would ever try to get close to me again. With that in mind, I heard a lot of talk at BYU about a challenge that the President of the Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints, Gordon B. Hinckley made to all the members. He promised that if one would read the Book of Mormon by the end of the year, he/she will receive the blessing of the Spirit and many other blessings. What I felt that I wanted and needed the most was to find a nice young man who would fall in love with me and who I would fall in love with, eventually getting married. So, with only a few weeks left until the end of the year I started listening to the book whenever I wasn't doing anything else. After putting quite a few hours into this activity I finally finished the book on December 31st at 10:06PM. I knew that I did my part. Now I could just wait for the promise to come true. And it started working... I started going out with different guys quite a bit. I was being liked by guys and I liked some back but not to the extent of possibly getting married. The winter semester kept me really busy. I applied and got accepted to go to France (Dunkirk) on an internship, I was doing well in school and I liked my computer lab assistant job. Everything was perfect, except I still hadn't met 'the one'. I eventually decided not to go to France because I needed to work full time during the summer so by the beginning of spring term I was being very busy working 40 hours a week. I was also getting tired and bored with doing only one thing all the time so I decided to look up folk dance classes. If I took one I could practice more, learn new stuff and have some fun. The only class that fit my work schedule was Beginning Irish taught by Jeanette Geslison. It was a class I had already attended before but since it was taught by someone different and I really didn't have any other class to choose from I decided to show up one day, about a week into the term. The students were already testing but I got to dance even though I couldn't remember everything very well. That day in May was the first time I met and danced with David. There were a couple more guys in the class but none as attractive as he was. Plus, I wasn't there for the guys. Jeanette said that she would approve me to stay in the class so I stayed and had fun. I would dance with David every class period and we would walk home together after class. I started to like him and I could tell that he liked me a little bit too. I remember that one time I invited him to the Krishna Temple festival and another time we went together to an Irish contest in Salt Lake. We had fun together and eventually our walks home became longer and longer and we also went on walks that were not after the Irish class; dates, sort of... We would talk about our life, our experiences, the things we like and the things we'd like to do.

The first time David held my hand was one day after Irish class. He was walking me to work, as he's done other times before and as we walked out of the RB, going up a long flight of stairs, he grabbed my hand. Neither one of us said anything about it. It was a little awkward and I was pretty shy and probably red in my cheeks but I didn't pull my hand away. After that, holding hands became natural and something we did all the time. Others started to notice us holding hands and my roommates kept asking me if he's kissed me already.

The kissing came a few weeks later. We went to Salt Lake and it was evening and we were walking at the Gateway. And I don't really remember why we went to Salt Lake or what we did. All I remember is that we sat on some rocks by a little river at the Gateway and he took my face and kissed me on the mouth. I was sooooooooo nervous, I was shaking really bad. The kiss was pretty short but I loved it. I was so happy and I knew then that we might end up married. I think this happened in July but I don't remember if it was before or after Independence Day. We spent Independence Day with David's family who were visiting Utah from Japan for the summer. I remember being nervous to meet them but it turned out fine. Unfortunately the only other time I met them that summer was when we took them to the airport. Oh, there's one detail that I just remembered about the kissing episode. One of my roommates was friends with one of David's roommates and would visit their apartment all the time. She knew that David and I were dating and asked me several times if he'd kissed me. I would keep telling her that he hadn't but that I really wanted him to. So, one day soon after we'd actually kissed, she asked me again and I triumphantly said 'yes'! :) To that she was like: 'Finally he did it. I told him that he should do it but he kept putting it aside saying that he wasn't sure if it was too early to do it." I was like: 'What?' We laughed and I was so thankful that she talked to David even though I felt a little embarrassed too.

The summer was almost ending and a new semester was going to start soon. Another thing to remember happened at the beginning of October. It was Homecoming night and we went up on a hill by the Y Mountain to watch the fireworks. On the way to the car we decided to just walk around a little longer and look at the pretty houses that were up there since it was a very nice evening. It was during that walk that I knew that we were going to get married. I had no doubt in my mind and I kind of said it out loud at one point as we were looking at some house and I said something like 'I'd like OUR house to be...'. I quickly said something else hoping that he didn't get what I said the first time and I was lucky, as he didn't seem to have noticed and kept talking.

The semester was progressing. David and I had only one class together, clogging. Not my favorite but one of his. And he was doing pretty good in it too. I was doing allright but seeing him succeed so easily started getting to me and soon enough I became jealous of him. I couldn't stand it and would frequently get upset and even cry when he would tell me how do dance better and I didn't want to be around him in that class anymore. I eventually started getting upset and thinking over everything he did or said and I started considering him as a competitor. I loved dancing but he was the one succeeding and I was being slow at making progress. Plus, he was always such a show off! I decided I didn't want us to see each other for a while. I didn't know for how long or if I ever wanted to see him again but I stopped talking to him completely. I wasn't happy and I would watch him when he wasn't looking but I was scared and afraid. Everything was happening so quickly and I felt threatened and unimportant. After one of the happiest summers of my life I was deciding if I was ever going to see David again. All the letters and messages he sent apologizing and asking me what he could do to make things better, made me even more sad and confused. All this went on for about a month, until one night when, even though I was really tired, I decided to say hi to Chris Chan, one of my friends and a guy who liked me for sometime. He knew about David and he asked me why I was so determined to end the relationship. I realized right then that I was wrong; that my reasons were, most of them wrong and that I loved him and wanted to be with him. At the end of our next clogging class I went and sat across from David. Rosie, one of our classmates gave him an invitation to some activity and when she left I suggested if he would maybe like to take someone on a date for the event. We left together and decided to meet again later that evening. He came and we talked outside, in front of my apartment at the Avenues for hours but what made that evening perfect was our make-up kiss and hug. I wanted so desperately to kiss him and it was one of our most passionate kisses we've ever had. Of course that we got back together but even now, almost four years after David still reminds me of how much sadness I inflicted upon him and how he would cry himself to sleep many nights. He said that he knew that getting back together was the right thing to do but it wasn't easy for him to just forgive and forget.

After this incident things started looking much better and in November we started looking for engagement rings. Didn't buy one, as we wanted it to be a surprise for me but he still needed to know what I like and what my size was. At the end of December we went to Romania together. It was so much fun to spend Christmas with my family and have David there with us too. Little did I know that I was going to have the happiest Christmas of my life. After wrapping up the gifts David told everyone, except my dad to leave the living room. We left and a few minutes after my dad came out and told me to go in. I was so nervous. I went in and we sat on the couch and David asked me in Romanian: "Vrei sa te casatoresti cu mine?" - meaning 'will you marry me". I said "yes" and he slipped a beautiful ring on my finger. I was so happy. We kissed and then told everyone. My parents already knew, as he asked for their permission first, in Romanian still. Everything went well after that and we got married on March 3rd, 2007 at the Manti, UT temple. Our marriage wasn't easy for the first couple of years but I'll leave that for another story. Suffices to say that I love David with all my heart and I never regret the decision to marry him. He is the one man in this world who makes me happy and loves me. I know that we'll be together for the rest of our lives and that we are a 'match made in heaven'. :) I love you David, with all my heart!

We're having the cutest baby girl!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, it's about time for some updates from the Johansens. Life's been stressful and good all of the same time. Stressful because David is still looking for a job that would provide for us. He still works his two jobs but as more loan payments, doctors appointments and ultrasounds keep piling up, our money keeps disappearing. I know that money tends to do that but in our case it just comes and goes and we don't even get to look at it and feel better about all the long hours David puts into earning this hard worked for money. And I don't know if it's pregnancy or what but I keep thinking that I'd love to be able to buy diapers, a crib, bedding, clothes and bottles for our little baby but there's no money for it. I've been trying to find some work online but wasn't very successful there and it just kills me to bring this baby into our family and not be able to provide for her.

Speaking of HER... Yes, we are now 99% sure that our baby is a little girl! he 20 weeks ultrasound confirmed, more or less the fact and we'd like to believe that it was right. Why aren't we 100 % sure? It seems that our little girl is pretty stubborn. Every time we tried to look at her she would keep her legs really tight. We only got a couple sneak peeks, which was apparently enough for the tech and doctor to declare that they're very positive that this is a girl. We do have a picture to prove it but what do we know? She would not show us a profile either so we got pictures of her bum, feet, legs and back of her head but no cute little face. Shy little thing! LOL Anyway, as far as we could tell she looked great and she seems to be strong and healthy... and moving a lot! She moved all the time, which made us laugh but got the ultrasound tech a bit frustrated. :) So, no reason for me to be worried that baby is not moving, even though I still can't seem to feel her a whole lot. After going to the doctor, a few days before the ultrasound I was still a little concerned. We did hear her heartbeat again but the doctor kept asking me "So, would you say you feel her move three times a day? Or how many?" And I was like "Well, can't really say that I ever felt her move..." And then she finds the heartbeat and the baby moves as we were listening and the doctor was like "Did you feel that?" and I was like "Ummm... noooo?". Anyway, it turns out that all those ticklings, like gas bubbles that I feel sometimes in my tummy are actually the baby and I swear that a couple of times she went all the way at the lowest part of my tummy and was just laying there, cause I felt this heaviness and when I touched it it was like a little bump that moved away after a second or so. So, I know that she's fine even though I only feel her every once in a while and not even every day.

So, now that we got used to the idea that it's a girl and not a boy, as almost everyone I know predicted, including ourselves, we are really excited and talk to her and about her all the time. We just love her so much! We don't have a name picked yet but hopefully that will happen soon.

Here are a few pictures of our little girl, the best that we can come up with as of right now. My most favorite is the one of her foot. :) I really hope that we'll get to see her one more time before she's born and that we'll actually get a clearer view of her gender and of her cute little face just so that there won't be any gender-related surprises. LOL Enjoy!

We're not shopping at Smith's... At least for a while...

The title might sound weird but we have a pretty good reason to make that statement.

Last Saturday evening, after spending a few hours enjoying our evening, we decided that we wanted to buy a few things from Smith's before going home. We went to the store, got the stuff we needed and went to the checkout. We were a little frustrated that all the registers were pretty full and we had to wait in line but eventually chose one of the registers and started waiting. You know how when you stand in line all the other lines seem to move faster than yours? That's what happened this time and to make things worse, our cashier leaves the register unattended and disappears in a room behind the Customer Service desk. It's an understatement to say that we got even more frustrated but soon the cashier's place was taken by another cashier. She checked out the two people in front of me and starts scanning my stuff but stops in the middle of the job to make a phone call! I looked at her not believing my eyes and without trying too hard I got to listen in the conversation. She was calling 911 to report a robbery that apparently just happened in the store. She looked pretty shaken up when she asked the dispatcher to send the police immediately because they believed that the suspect was carrying a gun. This definitely got my attention. I looked at David, who was on the other side of the cart, on my left but didn't really think too much about what she said. As she scanned a couple more of my things, we see two police officers walk into the store and go to the room behind the Customer Service desk. After some seconds we hear someone shout a few times "Put your gun down!" At that point we kind of freaked out and as all the cashiers instructed everyone to get down, we crouched down and hid behind the checkout stands. As everyone in the store got to the ground we heard several gun shots followed by a few more. The cashier behind me started crying and screaming which, to tell you the truth didn't help the situation. I was already scared but hearing her panic brought me to tears. All I could think about was that I was right in front of the Customer Service desk and the very first person in line and if the guy with the gun decided to come out and shoot anything or anyone I would be a pretty easy target. That didn't happen, fortunately, and after a few more minutes we were all safely evacuated from the store. Outside there were about 10 police cars, a couple ambulances and a fire truck and lots of people. As I said before, the store was pretty busy so there were lots of people in the parking lot as we exited. We didn't really know what the outcome of the situation was but after a few more minutes police blocked all the entrances to the parking lot and the area in front of the entrance. We waited around for about an hour and eventually decided that there was no reason to wait for our groceries since the store wasn't going to open any time soon.

The next day at church we met another person who happened to be in the store at the same time we were and he told us that he found out that the robber was killed by the police. We had my WIC documents to pick up from Smith's so we needed to return there to get them but it was such an eerie feeling walking back there and going through the check out again. The room where the whole thing happened was still blocked off and it looked like all the stuff inside had been taken out.

It's such a weird experience to be in a situation where your life could be threatened. Everything happens so fast. I'm guessing that people who loose their lives in such situations don't even realize what just happened to them immediately after they die. I don't know... But I can tell you that I now know that I don't like the sound of gun shots.

Here's a link to the story as it was published on ksl 5. You can even see David and myself in the video.

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=10707188

12 weeks? Not so sure... Let's check it out!

* Enjoy our baby's first picture!

So, everything is been going well since we found out that we were expecting. A month ago we had the first prenatal exam and the doctor said that both the baby and myself are doing great. A couple of weeks ago David's parents came to visit from Japan and we had tons of fun maternity shopping. We even looked for baby car seats and strollers but decided that it's a little too early to buy one now.
David's been working his two jobs and enjoys the Simply Mac position the best because it keeps him connected and updated on everything in the computer world. He also enjoys taking care of us which is great since I haven't really been able to be serious enough about getting another job. I just don't feel up for it right now. I was just thinking this morning how I'd have a very hard time committing to a job because I wouldn't feel strong enough to do it. Most of the days I'm either nauseous or tired and when I feel good I do too much around the house and then I get nauseous again. I know that my nausea is a lot milder than what many of my friends have experienced, especially since I haven't really thrown up once since my pregnancy started, but just the feeling of not really being myself is kind of discouraging when it comes to being serious about a job. So, anyway, David's been really supportive and I love him so much for that.
Yesterday we had our second Doctor's appointment and the doctor said once again that everything looks great and the results of the lab work we did last time were all good. We were also very excited to hear our baby's heartbeat for the first time yesterday! I wanted to cry when I heard it. We were both amazed that such a tiny baby can have such a strong heartbeat. The doctor confirmed that the heartbeat was good and regular. However, when he checked my uterus he wasn't so sure that I was only 12 weeks along so he ordered an ultrasound which I had right after the appointment. Unfortunately, David couldn't stay for it because he was already late for work but we talked as soon as I was done and I told him about the experience. It was such a miracle to see our little baby moving inside my tummy. It moved its arms a few times and liked to keep them in front of the face while it kept its legs crossed. I could see its knees and little legs! I was so nervous that I was a little shaky, which was also probably because my bladder was really full and I was feeling a little cold. :) So, we don't have twins but our baby is one week older than we thought before.
Seeing the baby and hearing its heartbeat made the whole pregnancy a lot more real. I now know for a fact that there is a little baby growing steadily inside me. I'm starting to feel more like a mom and I'm already imagining what it will be like to have the baby here with us.
We are very happy and excited and can't wait for the 20 weeks ultrasound when we'll hopefully be able to find out if our little baby is a boy or a girl. No matter what it is, we already love our baby with all our hearts and can't wait for it to get here on November 3rd, one week earlier than we first expected!

Good news! Finally...

Hello dear friends! We finally have some good news to share with you. It's about time, you might say and I totally agree with you! :) It's not fun when life is hard and to tell you the truth I'm really tired of it. As some might say, "I've had it!"But back to the story. In January we decided that it was time for our family to grow a little so we started trying for a little Johansen Jr. I read books, such as "What to expect before you're expecting" which proved very interesting but didn't give me much of hope that I will become pregnant any time soon. Apparently, after being on birth control for a while, some women take between 6 months and a year to get pregnant while others conceive very soon. I didn't feel like I was the fast type, even though my mom assured me that if I inherited any of her genes it won't be long. :) Sometime at the end of February I wasn't feeling very well so I thought I'd try a pregnancy test. The result was almost positive. Why almost? Because it was negative but there was a second feint line that showed a possibility of being pregnant. I was pretty disappointed but continued to read books on what to do to be healthy and ready for a baby. Things went better than we expected and on March 9th we found out through the miracle of home-testing that we are going to have a baby! Being as skeptical as I was, David bought me a new test, as the one I had at home was about to expire. Not knowing that he will buy a new test, I myself bought one just to be sure. Well, I ended up trying 5 more different tests, all of them showing a positive result!!!! Crazy, I know. After about a week of feeling nauseous we went to a clinic in Salt Lake and their test confirmed what we already knew. We are gong to have a baby and he/she will apparently be born at the beginning of November! We are very excited and nervous at the same time.
The other good news is that David had a second interview with Simply Mac, a computers and accessories store, and they offered him a part time position! We really hope that it will become full time soon but for now David is trying to find a second job so that we could move in our own apartment and get ready for the little one that is growing and making me tired and not so fun to be around. :) You women out there surely know what I'm talking about. Even though the pregnancy's been pretty easy on me so far I'm still not my best and I can tell that something is happening in my body. I can't wait to have the first ultrasound at the beginning of April, just to be sure that everything is ok. Did any of you, moms out there ever fee; uncertain and scared that maybe the baby isn't ok? Especially when you can't see any changes in your appearance at the beginning of your pregnancy? I sometimes feel that way but David tries to calm me down and assure me that everything is fine.

Anyway, this is our news so far. We hope that all of you are happy and doing well and we love you and wish you only great things!

Life in Utah

Happy New Year everyone! We're still here and still surviving! :) We've been pretty busy during the holidays. As I might have mentioned in my previous posting, both David and I got seasonal jobs and we were really happy about it. I worked for Western Nut Co. selling nuts and different nut-related gifts at University Mall in Orem and David worked for Borders Bookstore in Provo. My employment was terminated at the beginning of January after we sold pretty much everything at the kiosk. I am proud to mention that I sold more than any other employee, my total being about 20 thousand dollars in the few weeks I worked there! It's not like I was rewarded in any way for it or anything but it gave me a pretty good feeling. The other good news is that David was hired as a full-time employee by Borders. He never really gets 40 hours/week (it's more like 30 or less) but at least he has a job. He also interviewed with Simply Mac, a store that sells Mac computers and we really hope that he'll get that job even though is in Salt Lake because the pay is better than at Borders, there are some benefits that come with the job and he'll most likely be able to work 40 hours/week which will ensure a steady income.
Other than that, there isn't really much else happening with us. My sister Irina, who lives in Spain is visiting my family in Bucharest, my grandma from Iam moved to live with my family in Bucharest and my grandpa from Victoria seems to be doing allright dealing with the limitations that come with old age.
David's family is still living and working in Okinawa, Japan, a place we'd really love to visit someday, especially since it has nice weather even during winter-time. :) Ben, David's brother came and spent Christmas with us in Midway and Charity, the youngest sister is still studying music in Cedar City and came to visit us for a weekend, just last week. It was fun to have her and to spend some time with her.
I mentioned before a little bit about our Christmas. Well, this year we had a really fun Christmas. David's family got us tickets to go snow-tubing at Soldier Hollow, which was a lot of fun and the first time for me to enjoy, and Ben took us to see the movie Avatar in Park City at a nice theater. This movie is one of the most expensive movies ever made and as far as I'm concerned, it was pretty much one of the coolest movies I've seen in a long time. We all enjoyed it very much.
We hope that you all had a great time this holiday season and that we will keep in touch through 2010 as well!

2009 Family Letter that got lost among other documents

I misplaced this letter earlier but I still wanted to post it here since I love using this blog as a kind of journal. So, don't feel like you have to read it. :) It's all old stuff. :))

2009 - Life unveiled

Working for Western Nut Co.

At the Manheim Steamroller Concert

Limerick, Ireland

David's Graduation

Dahlee's Graduation

It's December, a time when many find themselves looking back at what the year had in store for them. With Christmas just around the corner and a new year waiting at the door, we realize that another year of our life has passed. With many events woven throughout the year, David and I don't need much time to remember the good and the unexpected that our little family experienced over the past 12 months.

After a fairly uneventful winter semester and two easy spring and summer terms spent mostly working and finishing up our degrees, both David and I graduated from Brigham Young University in August. David received a Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science and I earned a Bachelor of Arts in Linguistics.

The years spent at BYU finally came to an end and with them the chance for a new life. The beginning of this new life, we decided, was going to be spent in Ireland, as David learned with much excitement and anticipation that he was accepted into the Master of Ethnochoreology offered at the University of Limerick. Ethnochoreology is the study of folk dance as it developed in each country throughout the world. David's desire to choreograph and teach has developed during the last few years at BYU, while David took many folk dance classes, taught some of them himself and choreographed for SPAC, the team we toured with the year before. We left for Ireland during the last week of August. We stayed in Limerick for two months, spent making phone calls to the US, using up most of our savings and being frustrated with a system that didn't work. After experiencing many things that went wrong, we felt strongly that the best thing to do was to return to Utah and start over. It was during this hard time that we strengthened each other. We were content to return to our friends in the States but we also knew that a part of us was going to break off and be scattered somewhere between Europe and America.

Back in Utah, we started looking for work and eventually found some seasonal jobs. I work for Western Nut Co. at University Mall and David works at the Borders bookstore helping with pretty much everything that goes on in the store. They are fun jobs that we enjoy and are happy to have but we continue looking for full-time work to be able to take care of ourselves when these jobs will be over.

At this time we're looking forward to celebrating Christmas and even if there won't be many gifts under our tree, we are happy to have each other, with our love and our hopes together, ready to accomplish many great things. We are hopeful for the New Year, to make more plans, be better and learn more, and most of all to spend many more great times together as a family. We hope to hear from all of you about what your 2009 brought to you and hope that it turned out to be an excellent year for you and your families.

Love, Dahlee and David Thomas

2009 Highlights

- February: Celine Dion awesome concert in Salt Lake

- May: trip to California for aunt Sherry's funeral

- August: graduation and Ireland

- October: returned to Utah

- December: work with Western Nut Co. and Borders, visit to the Hogle Zoo, beautiful Manheim Steamroller concert in Salt Lake City

Back to Utah

So, we've been back for almost a month now. It almost feels like we've never been gone. Everything is the same... or almost... Almost because the weather is colder and wetter, our friends' kids are bigger, the trees have little to no leaves and we don't have our own place to live in. We've been staying at David's parents' condo in Midway and have been commuting to Provo but are really hoping to find stable work so that we could commit to paying rent every month.

Speaking of work, I'm doing some babysitting in Midway and I just started a new job selling nuts at the University Mall. I was nervous about the nuts job because I don't like dealing with money, but I enjoyed my first day and I think I'll do just fine. The babysitting is not that bad either. I care for a 1.5 year old little girl who is very nice and pretty easy and once a week I send the older sister off to school in the morning. The family I work for is nice and they are happy to have me work for them.

David has been looking for work too and he filled out tons of applications. So far he got a couple of interviews but we're hoping that he'll get more and hopefully a full time job. He will be working for the Borders bookstore for the holidays but we don't know if that will become a full time position or not... We're happy that he found some work though...

Being back it's been a good experience for us. We are happy to be back and to see our friends that we love. It's also nice to just go see familiar places. It somehow makes us feel safe and happy even though our life is still tough and we don't have much enjoyment going on right now. Being back in Utah feels good and we are happy to be here and to continue building our life together.

On our way

We left Ireland at 6:30 this morning and are currently on the last plane on our way to Salt Lake. The trip was good, with few incidents. We left from Limerick to Shannon last night after a full day of packing, cleaning and checking out of our apartment. We were very happy that for the first time ever the checkout process was quick and simple and the agent was impressed with our cleaning job. We were also very lucky to get our deposit back, which we used to pay part of the loan one of our friends gave us to pay our rent last month. We are glad that we paid most of it back. One less debt and worry is always welcome, right? So, we stayed at a much too nice hotel right next to the Shannon airport and showed up at the airport around 5:00am. The lady at the counter didn't have her glasses and also wasn't familiar with Permanent Resident procedures but we were able to sort things out fairly quickly. We were very pleased that we didn't have to pay to bring the computer with us so we should have it when we get off the plane. We saw it in JFK and it looked ok. We hope that it's in one piece and it'll still work :) The flight to Paris was short and nice. I love flying small planes! They are so smooth! I never thought that that would be the cas. We arrived a little late in Paris but we had over 3 hours between flights so it went ok. We had some peas soup, quiche and croissants and played some Playstation 3 games for a while until we boarded the plane that took us to New York. You know? It's a little sad going through cool cities such as Paris and NYC and not have time to go visit them. It's a dream of mine to see Paris, especially because I love the French language, and NYC is my most favorite city I've been to thus far. So, both of these cities are on my list to go visit sometime soon. Anyway, the flight to NYC was long and we were about one hour late but we made it safely. I enjoyed listening to the French language on the way - we flew on Air France. Oh, I remembered a cool thing that happened in Paris. I was taking a picture of our plane when a family approaches me asking me in French to take a picture of them. I took the picture but didn't do a good job including some background in it so I asked if they wanted me to take a better one from a different angle. The lady was impressed with my French and she complimented me on how well I spoke French. The truth is that I did a horrible job mumbling my words and thinking really hard of what to say but it made me really happy that she said that. Back to getting to NY... We arrived late to JFK as well and had to wait in a long line outside the terminal to only find out that we could have walked right at the front because we are American residents. The lady asked if we didn't hear her asking if there were any Americans in line and we thought that we might have heard something as we were stepping out of the plane but we were some of the last people in line so we didn't know what she was talking about. She never repeated her question and we were in line for about 20 mins until David asked her and she directed us to a desk. We breezed right through. It was the easiest and fastest entry in America I've ever had and it made me happy and made me forget all about the line real fast. In NY we are some Burger King because we knew that we weren't going to be fed on this plane and I was feeling nauseous and had a headache, and we then prepared to board the plane. As we walked to the gate we noticed that my name was posted on the screen above the gate so we asked about it. The lady said that I didn't have a seat and I needed to wait a few more minutes. Now, we only had 10 minutes until the plane left but were lucky to see my name dissapear off the list. We asked about it and she, very confused said: I'm taking care of the flight to Denver and you're going to SLC! Get on the plane! We didn't have time to ask what all that was about and didn't really care. We got on the plane and about an hour later flew out of JFK. I felt lucky that I got to see the City both at arrival and at departure, first time in daylight and second time at night when all the lights were on and the view was gorgeous. We're still on the plane waiting as patiently as we can to arrive in Salt Lake, get our car and drive to Midway. I'm glad that David is getting a little rest so that he can drive us to Midway. I feel tired and a little nervous but am excited to get back and see our friends and places we know and love. See you all soon!

Leaving Ireland

Some of you already know that David and I are returning to Utah. Yes, it is true... Things didn't work out and we both feel that going back will help us put our lives back together. I'm personally allright with the idea of going back because so far every experience here turned out to be a desaster and I just can't take it any longer. In my last entry I was being more optimistic that the checks were on the way and we were going to receive the money. The checks did arrive and we were happy. What else could go wrong??? Well, it turns out that the two of the three checks weren't filled out right so David couldn't cash them. He turned the good check in at the university and found out that the other two checks will take up to six weeks to be re-issued and cleared. This was the drop to fill our glass. We decided that we cannot wait any longer just hoping that things will work out and getting in more debt. So, today we went and talked to the landlord to get out of the apartment contract and David also turned in his withdraw letter. Just to make things even better, the school won't return all the money to us because David went to school here for a month. He didn't have an ID card until a couple weeks ago, didn't benefit from anything and didn't receive any help from anyone and yet he ows the school money! Of course there is nothing we can do about it, as always, so we'll have to suck it up and pay the government whatever the school won't refund us. And, as if we weren't in enough debt already... the company we rented the apartment through isn't sure if the landlord will get our deposit or at least part of the rent for this month back to us either so we're pretty much screwd and there is nothing we can do. As you can easily tell I'm really upset but this too shall pass. Just as a heads up to everyone... Please think twice if you're thinking to do any kind of business in Ireland. The bureaucracy is terrible, there is cigarrs smoke everywhere, the most important part of people's jobs is when they go out for a smoke and drink their coffee during the two hour lunch break and of course being careless and insensitive. There are some very nice people but too bad that the overall feeling is of carelessness... So, I guess this is all for now. I'll let you all know if anything else comes up but I really hope that if I will have any other news it will be good news.

Life goes on...

Well, I'm back. Not much has happened since I last wrote but I wanted to keep the blog up to date. So, I remember last time being frustrated with everything and everyone. I've gotten better at learning and accepting things as they are and as they come our way. Even though it's not easy it makes life a little more bearable. So, our situation right now...
David's money for school is still not here and we still have no idea when it'll come. David still likes his classes but he does think that what he wants to do is not what they teach him here. The degree will open doors for him but it doesn't seem to teach him much about teaching folk dance. It's more about researching and living with the people that he should study and understand. His desire is to teach and instill a love of folk dance into his students and I feel that he will be very successful at that. He has the personality and a great desire for it and he loves folk dance and dancing.

Our apartment is still nice even though we found quite a bit of broken pieces of furniture, including the main bed. One evening, as I was getting into bed the frame underneath broke and hurt my leg in the process. I still have a nice bruise on my right leg from that experience. We reported the problem but no one has taken any action yet even though it's been over two weeks. I also wish that the microwave was working because I'd love to have some popcorn. :) Otherwise the apartment is nice and comfortable. We are experiencing some difficulties with our neighbours underneath. They like to listen to their music very loudly. I have no doubt that they have a nice stereo that has a great base that resonates through the walls and keeps us awake until late at night. The longest it went was up until 1:00AM which might not seem that late if it wasn't for David having to get up early for school the next day. Well, I wrote a polite note to them which didn't have the desired effect so we might have to start looking for a different apartment. We really don't want this because at least we are comfortable and would like not to have to worry about an apartment right now. I don't know what we'll do yet...

Limerick has nice weather still. I'm still able to wear my flipflops and short sleaved t-shirts, which is nice. It's gotten a little bit colder but not a whole lot. The leaves are starting to turn yellow at places and the sky is more cloudy most of the time but the weather is still nice. Speaking of nature, one thing that really amazes me is our river... the Shannon river. It changes every hour and every day. In the morning it's full almost bursting, a few hours later is half full, to the point where the rocks on the bottom create waves and crazy waters, to only find it to its fullest in the evening. Sometimes it is so shallow that one could walk right through it, while other times is is so high that we worry that it might flow over. I'm not kidding that this river fluctuates more than any river I've ever seen. I know it's the tide, since we're so close to the ocean but it still seems pretty weird.

One thing that I'm very greatful about is the help of some people from church. It takes us about 50 minutes to walk to church on Sunday so it doesn't make it very easy and pleasurable, especially when it rains outside and it's cold and windy. But there are a few very nice and friendly people there. One family lended us money so that we could pay our rent, another man built us a small desk for our computer and another family helped us with some money for food. It's been a trying and humbling experience so far being here and we really hope not to have to receive help from others but it was very nice to have this help. My sister, Irina also helped us with some money, David's family from Japan and his boss, Sharon back in Utah also sent some money our way, for wich we are very greatful. We really hope that we'll be able to show our gratitude and thanks to all these people without whom we'd be homeless and starving.

What else has happened... One other good thing was that we finally were able to pick up our MAC computer. We left it in Utah with Carl and Karina and they mailed it to us a while back but when it got here the customs said that we had to pay almost 200 Euro to pick it up. We called them and they had us send it back to customs and when it returned there was no charge attached to it so we were able to get it. We are so happy to have it here safely and to be able to watch our favorite movies and TV shows that we missed all this time.

Well... I think that I covered pretty much most of it... I can't think of anything else. I like the food here, I like the green grass and trees and the Shannon river. I love being here with David. We might have to leave this country if our situation will not improve soon but we will remember these hard times that strenghtened us and drew us closer together.