Where in the world are Matt and Julie?

Completely unrelated to Valentine's Day, and moreso related to the fact that we both had a three-day weekend, we took off for a weekend away to an undisclosed location. Can you figure out where we went?

Finishing Touches

Here's a few pictures of our new bathroom with the shower curtain and matching towels. I just found matching towels yesterday at JCPenney and the shower curtain is from Wal-Mart. I think it fits in with the rest of the house really well! The blueish in the shower curtain is neither blue nor green, but somewhere in the middle. We really like it!

Weekend Update

Unfortunately, this won't be as entertaining as SNL! We just haven't been doing too much lately, so nothing really big to report. Usually, we would be snowshoeing every weekend and enjoying winter a little bit more. Then again, in past winters, I haven't been carrying a baby in womb, either.

This weekend has been super productive and I'm happy with the things that we've accomplished. Mostly the things I've done, since typically I can find a good excuse to just lay around. Matt's always doing something productive it seems! Sometimes, I just want him to be lazy like me! I digress. I managed to finish up a few things that I've been putting off, do a few loads of baby things in prep for the baby, write what I can in the baby book, and take care of some general business. Matt and I also assembled (meaning, put the wheels on!) the baby's travel system and took the pack & play out of the box. Each step gets us both that much more for baby's arrival! When I type it all out, it seems like nothing. :(

We went to Junction yesterday to shop and go to church. We headed out after an eventful start to the morning, not involving the hospital or our baby, but rather a call from the bank to check out what appeared to be a fraudulent situation. While Matt was out for a quick morning walk, I ordered our crib online. We found the one we wanted a few days ago, but I just hadn't placed the order yet. Well, when he came home, I was on the phone with one of my sisters. Rather than interrupting our conversation, I figured I'd tell him that I ordered the crib when I was off the phone. In the mean time, Matt's phone rang and it was Wells Fargo, asking about a purchase from a furniture store in Florida. Matt, not knowing that I had purchased the crib that morning, denied the transaction, thus starting the process of cancelling his credit card. (Whoa. Those people don't waste any time!) I ordered the crib online, so I really didn't care where it came from. What difference does it make, right? In Wells Fargo defense, I'm glad they took the time to call about a transaction in Florida when clearly we live in Colorado. Anyway, the whole situation could have been avoided if I would have asked my sister to hold on for 2 seconds while I told Matt that I purchased the crib. My fault! Note to self: some things are important enough to interrupt a conversation.

Currently, we're socked in with low clouds and snow that's been falling all day long. It's only sticking where snow already existed, so the roads are just wet and slushy. I LOVE days like this where we can enjoy the weather without worrying about going somewhere. I especially like when they fall on a weekend! Seriously, I do. Of course, Matt still managed to get a 9-mile run in despite the snow. See what I mean on the productivity level!? I had to laugh today when I got to the page in the baby book that said, "Number of pounds Mommy gained ________ Number of pounds Daddy gained _______." Ha! My skinny guy has gone negative if anything! How bad will that make my number look in the book!? I'm pullin' double digits while Matt's going negative...

I'm looking forward to two short weeks at school - this week, the kids have Friday off, and everyone has next Monday off. My last performance for the year will be February 23rd. It's a first grade concert, and the kids are singing patriotic songs with a little bit of dialogue that I wrote to go with the songs that I picked. I'm keeping it very simple!

Remember last year when I blogged about Girls on the Run? The program for 3rd-8th grade girls involving a 5k run? Anyway, I'm the head coach at my school this year, so I've been attending a few extra meetings and trainings for that. I'm excited to start the program and the girls ask me about it almost every day. I guess they're pretty pumped, too! I have recruited two other teachers and the school counselor to help coach, so they will take over when I leave. I'm sure I'll pop in on a few practices before the race on May 1st. Matt, Baby, and I may even make the trip to Junction so I can walk (and push the stroller?!) in the back of the group to encourage any stragglers from our group. I'm sure we won't decide one way or the other until the night of April 30th.

Oh! Speaking of April 30th, that's the night of the Garfield Re-2 music faculty concert, which I guess I'm a part of since I teach in the district. I have no idea what we're doing, except for the fact that I WILL be singing something with the other vocalists, but I WON'T be singing a solo or accompanying anyone. Not this year!

And that's your weekend update with Julie Rustand. (Picture me throwing a pencil at the computer screen in typical SNL fashion.)

Privacy, Take 3

If you're a reader of my sisters' blogs, you'll know that they have recently gone private with their blogs. The peer pressure was just too much (just kidding!) and we are headed in the same direction with our blog!

Now that our baby's arrival is coming closer, I want to put it out there that sometime BEFORE baby comes, we will be going private with our blog. In other words, you will be invited to view our blog (via an email) and each time you wish to view our blog, you'll need to sign in with a user name and password. But don't let that stop you from checking in with us! It sounds like a bigger process than it actually is.

We have gone back and forth on the issue of internet privacy, and we (ok, mostly me) have decided that it's best to go private with our blog before our baby comes. I do not want pictures posted of our baby unless we, our baby's parents, are the ones posting the pictures. We started a blog years ago to stay in touch with family and friends who live far away, and we will continue to use our blog for that very reason - pictures and all. However, since we DO have a blog, and try to keep it updated, we are also requesting (kindly, but firmly) no pictures be posted on facebook of our little one.

Matt's fear is that people will stop checking our blog, thus rendering it pointless for us to maintain. I would love for you to help prove him wrong (not in a bad way) and not let the user name and password prevent you from checking in with us. Honestly, I can see his point. However, if you readers out there are too... well, chicken, to request an invite, there's nothing I can do about that. We really do want you to stay connected to us while protecting our little sweet pea at the same time!

I'll post again later asking for you to email me if you'd like to be on the invite list, so don't worry that I'm going to cut you out tonight. I simply wanted to put it out there that we will eventually be going private with our blog - and you won't want to miss out on that right before our baby comes!

Carbondale, IL Trip!

Ok, so I uploaded the pictures backwards again... You think I'd learn!

We had such a fun trip to Carbondale last weekend! We flew from Denver to St. Louis on Thursday night (1/21), rented a car, and arrived in Carbondale around 2am. It was a late night! We stayed with BFF's Cory and Michelle, and their daughter was kind enough to let us crash in her room while she had a sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa's. And thus began the fastest weekend ever...

Matt's thesis presentation and defense went VERY well and he passed with flying colors! Since his presentation was open to the public, I went to support my guy. Unfortunately, I could not squeeze my jumbo-sized body into the student desk in the classroom! Embarassing! A PhD student grabbed me a chair after he could see that the space between the chair and desk wasn't going to cut it. Anyway, Matt did a wonderful job handling the 35-minute presentation and questions that were asked afterward. After the public portion, Matt continued the process with his three committee members (professors at SIU). Two hours later, he was done! I am so proud of him! I know that Matt felt really relieved to just have it done so he could enjoy the rest of the weekend. Our BFF's Doug and Tiff (PhD students at SIU) came to Matt's presentation, too, so it was fun to see them and catch up a little bit. We spent more time with them on Saturday, which was so nice. They are expecting their first little one in May, so we had lots to chat about! If only our friends could have moved with us...

We celebrated Matt's success with a trip to the mall with Cory and Michelle, where we spent a little time and a very little money. Michelle and I had fun bargain shopping and she taught me a new game! The game is to add up the regular price of everything you purchased and then figure out the percentage off of the items. I bought some things at Old Navy for 88% off! What would have been $117.50, I bought for $15. Beat that! Matt bought a SIU t-shirt as a graduation gift. We had a pizza dinner that night to continue celebrating.

On Saturday, Cory and Michelle threw us a baby shower! It was a shower for boys AND girls, so Matt got in on the baby shower action, too. About 15 of our friends came to the shower, which was a great excuse to see everyone and catch up. Time just goes so quickly when we were only in town for a few days, so it worked out very well. We didn't play any games or anything, just lots of chatting, baby/birth stories (from the women, obviously!), food, and gifts. It was so wonderful and we appreciated our friends taking the time to come and see us - AND to welcome our little sweet pea! (More to come on Baby R!) We went out for supper that night with Doug and Tiff. Matt and I drove through Evergreen Terrace and saw some lights on in our old apartment. It was a bit wierd to be back there! I almost can't believe that we even lived there, but it worked just fine for the time. I don't miss hauling our laundry outside and across the parking lot just to put the coins in and haul it back again!

We went to the 9am service at Vine on Sunday morning and saw about a hundred more people we know. It was great to be there, and as much as I miss the Vine and the people, I know that God isn't JUST at the Vine. He's out here in CO with us, too, and that's the most important part. We're not in Colorado by ourselves. God is taking care of us and growing us just like He was when we lived in Carbondale. Granted, it was a lot more fun to be growing and following Jesus with so many great friends there with us! When I look back on the past year, I can see specific things that God's been doing in our lives and how He's refining our character. I'm so thankful for that. Anyway, after some last-minute hugs and tears, we headed for St. Louis about noon to catch our return flight. What a wonderful weekend.

On to the pictures! This is a pic of the sling I ordered from my friend Lauren, who is an incredible God-fearing woman, wife, mom of three, and business owner. Her company, LoMai Slings, can be found online at http://www.etsy.com/shop/lomaislings. No, she did not ask me to advertise for her on my blog. However, if you're interested in ordering a sling, or want to know more about being a baby-wearing momma, check out her website. She also made this adorable little keepie (as my nephew calls it) for the baby and gave it to us as a shower gift. My mom makes these as well, so we knew it would be a must-have for Baby Rustand.
All of the wonderful gifts we received at the shower! A photo album, knitted hat, onesies, sleep n plays, blankets, bath toys, pacifiers, and a hand-made wooden rattle are just a few of the things we got. Our friend Andy made the wooden rattle and it's crazy awesome. He's THAT guy - you know, the one who is so gifted and so humble at the same time. Oh yeah, and he also makes chocolate cheesecakes and other deliciousness. From scratch.

Here I am at 33 1/2 weeks! Sometimes, I look at my belly in pictures and think, "Am I really that huge?" I guess my perspective is different, since I just look down at my belly and see it sticking out. CRAZY. I hope my skin can keep stretching, because we have 6 weeks to go! I've still been feeling great and everything is going very smoothly. It's getting increasingly difficult to sleep and sit for periods of time longer than 5-10 minutes. Other than that, Baby R is doing very well.

I had Matt take this picture of me specifically for the blog. I think it's hilarious how the front pocket on the sweater is off-centered just a little bit. It's challenging to dress such a large area! I have borrowed a lot of maternity clothes from my sisters and sister-in-law.

Here's the flier that was up in the Life Science II building for Matt's thesis presentation/defense! So formal!

Cory, Michelle, and us. We have tons of fun together!

I'm a little sad that this picture is blurry, and I'm not sure why it is since our camera is pretty awesome. I can count on 4 fingers how many blurry pictures it's taken. Too bad this is one of them! It's still a good picture of Michelle and I.

Last time we were in Carbondale, Michelle prayed for us to be blessed with a little baby. Now look!

Fruit smoothies. With whipped cream. Just for us. Mmmmm.....

Us with Doug and Tiff! Remember the post from a year and a half ago when we went backpacking in CO with these two? Fun times. Fun friends!

The yummy food spread at the shower! Sandwiches, spinach/artichoke dip, veggies and dip, apples and dip, sausage/cheese/bread squares, chocolate cheesecake, mini quiches, and more. A pregnant woman's delight.

Whew! That was a long post! There was just so much that went on in a short amount of time and it was all blog-worthy.

It's A...

New car!!

800 lbs, 8 feet long, goes by the name Ford Escape XLT! Welcomed into the Rustand garage by proud new owners, Matt and Julie, on January 15th, 2010.

Just practicing my announcements!

Matt did such a great job picking out a new vehicle for us. He spent several hours researching, reading, and shopping, and found us this great new ride! Because he did so much homework before we purchased, he didn't feel pressured or uncomfortable while talking to the salesman. Matt's had his eye on Escapes since at least last summer. It's an '09 with 10,100 miles on it and we purchased it from Glenwood Springs Ford, a mere 20 miles from here. We both thought we might have to travel to Grand Junction (60 miles) or Denver (180 miles) to find the right vehicle, but I guess we waited long enough for it to come close to us. We didn't trade the Taurus and will try to sell it ourselves. Until then, we will drive the Taurus while we have it.

Not too shabby, huh?

In case you can't quite tell, it's a charcoal gray color, with the same color fabric interior. It's all-wheel drive, too, which is nice for our neck of the woods.

Christmas in Minnesota

We had such a great time in Minnesota over Christmas! We extended our stay a few days and enjoyed our families just a little bit longer. It was so fun to see our little neices and nephews - there are 3 more this year than last year! A neice and nephew on the Legge side, and a neice on the Rustand side - all such sweet little ones! Time went by quickly, but I always feel very appreciative of the two-week trips we've been able to swing for the past handful of years. I hope it can continue, but it will be interesting to see what happens next year when there's THREE of us! Especially that 17-hour car ride... We were also blessed with good roads and no car problems! We took lots more pictures but only shared the ones of us. Thought you might be interested in seeing a few side shots of my belly, too! I was about 30 weeks at Christmas. Yep, 10 more weeks and I am already that huge! I'm thinking that the horizontal stripes don't help my look. :) Only 8 more weeks until Baby Rustand is supposed to arrive, so stay tuned for more XXL pictures of my belly, and our new son/daughter!!