Lunch Bunch and Baby Bumps!

Today the Spouses group on base had their monthly "Lunch Bunch" where we go to a different local restaurant to try out and rate their food and service. The restaurant we visited today was this neat restaurant called "artcafe" and the food was DELICIOUS and very well presented. The cafe itself was like an art gallery and they had lots of cool (read "expensive"!) artwork for sale. Nice to look at though! Work has been quite busy for me this week, so I worked hard yesterday and on Monday to try and get as much done as I could to have a fun "day off" today and catch up with some folks. The mushroom risotto I had at lunch made the hard work worth it!

Here is the risotto which was beautifully presented and equally as delicious!

Natalie had the tomato soup with side salad and a cheese stick.

I wasn't going to have dessert because I was full and because I haven't cared for sweet things lately (still unbelievable to me!) but I tried my neighbours dessert and it was incredible. It didn't taste like a dessert but rather like a nice, clean sorbet (well it WAS a sorbet). But the coolest thing about it was that it was frozen with liquid nitrogen and tasted sooooo smooth and fresh, like I was eating pure raspberries.

Zev would have totally loved this place. The best thing is that an Austrian lady owns it and was so sweet to come out and tell us about specials that they have (like Wiener Schnitzel every first Thursday evening of the month for lunch time prices! I like that!) After lunch, Natalie and I headed to the local outlet malls (I LOVE getting stuff on sale or drastically reduced. Timberland offers a 20% off military discount on TOP of their low prices. I had a 15% coupon and they let me use that PLUS my 20% military discount to get this awesome umbrella for $7.95. I like that too! So Natalie and I went to Motherhood Maternity (which, unsurprisingly, sells maternity clothes) and had fun trying on some stuff. We had some great coupons too so we saved a bunch of money. Don't make me go on that "Extreme Couponing" show on TV! Hahaha. Zev would love that, I'm sure?!!!!

They have these baby "pillows" that you put on underneath your clothes to simulate what you will look like in three months time! The first time I tried it on, I thought "are you serious!!? I look HUGE?!" And then I thought "wow, this is meant to be me at the 7 month mark...wonder what I will look like at 9 months." The clothes there are very flattering and cute. It was fun shopping with Natalie, because we can tell each other what looks good and what doesn't. She picked up some cute jeans and tops too.

I am still so happy that Zev and I got to hear our baby's heartbeat on the doppler at my 16 week appointment this Monday. Zev heard the heartbeat before the tech did! This Friday will mark the beginning of 17 weeks of pregnancy and the beginning of 5 months of pregnancy! Time is flying by. I thank God when I wake up every morning. For the opportunity to be growing a life inside of me, for my husband and family and friends and all of our blessings. Just watching the terrible earthquake in eastern Turkey or the countless sufferings of mankind around our world makes me really treasure what is put in front of me each day. I hope that you treasure what is around you today too. Not to get all preachy, but if you are reading our blog from a computer, you probably have a much better life (at least in terms of material comforts which by no means indicate spiritual happiness), but a much better standard of living than the majority of people on this earth. So to that, I pray for the people in need and the people hurting and thank God that He is great enough to look after everyone of us. Have a great week!

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.

1 John 5:14