Refreshing Summer Salad

This is the best and easiest go-to summer salad.  It has become a staple at book club c/o Connie.  

• Arugula
• Pomegranate seeds
• Feta Cheese (don't worry I'm always careful to use pasteurized cheese)
• Trader Joe's Goddess dressing 

20 Weeks

How Far Along:  20 weeks

Baby Size: About the size of a banana.

Total Weight Gain: 8lbs  Right on track :)

Maternity Clothes: I’m wearing both maternity and non maternity.

Stretch Marks: Nope.

Sleep: I am still sleeping well.  Really trying to stay off my back now that I’m getting bigger.

Best Moment of the week: Kyle got to feel her kicking.  It happened in Hawaii out of nowhere.  Just one day you couldn’t feel it and the next you could.  Amazing.

Miss Anything?: Not really missing anything right now.  Maybe just the ability to quickly and fully bend forward.  Picking things up off the floor at work is getting more uncomfortable.  Not painful, just feels weird.

Movement:  I feel movement all the time now.  Still not very strong though.

Food Cravings: Not really.

Anything Making you queasy or sick: Nope.

Gender: Girl.

Labor Signs:  No.

Symptoms: I don’t know if this is a symptom or not but the weather has been really nice and I seem to get tan like nothing.  Maybe hormonal?

Belly Button in or out: In.

Wedding Rings on or off: On.

Mood: Good.  Hawaii really relaxed some of my anxieties.

Looking forward to: Planning the nursery in our new apartment.

Exercise:  Working out regularly now and loving it. It’s been easier to eat healthier now also. Babymoon: Hawaii was exactly what we needed and I survived the flight.  It actually wasn’t that bad at all. Pet Peeve: Strangers, particularly customers, touching me.  Really people. STOP awkwardly rubbing my belly. For random strangers or acquaintances I just pull away from them or grab/rub their bellies, this really gets their attention so I think it’s funny, but with customers I’m stuck because I need their tip to pay my rent.  So annoying. Scary: I had a higher level of amniotic fluid and my baby was also on the higher side in her weight. The doctor said this is normal and we will check it in another ultrasound at my next appointment but I couldn't help but Google both of these things and the common factor is Diabetes!!! I was already a little afraid of this since I have a serious sweet tooth and a little bit of a family history.  I'm trying not to overreact and have decided to change up my diet just in case.  It can't hurt to limit the sweets anyway right?

Delta Gamma

I recently I read online about a letter circulating the internet from a Delta Gamma president to her sisters.  It is atrocious.  I got it from gawker.com and they changed the authors name for privacy. 

Here it is:
**If you prefer a funnier take on the whole thing, you can listen to Michael Shannon read the letter on Funny or Die.**

If you just opened this like I told you to, tie yourself down to whatever chair you're sitting in, because this email is going to be a rough fucking ride.

For those of you that have your heads stuck under rocks, which apparently is the majority of this chapter, we have been FUCKING UP in terms of night time events and general social interactions with Sigma Nu. I've been getting texts on texts about people LITERALLY being so fucking AWKWARD and so fucking BORING. If you're reading this right now and saying to yourself "But oh em gee Julia, I've been having so much fun with my sisters this week!", then punch yourself in the face right now so that I don't have to fucking find you on campus to do it myself.

I do not give a flying fuck, and Sigma Nu does not give a flying fuck, about how much you fucking love to talk to your sisters. You have 361 days out of the fucking year to talk to sisters, and this week is NOT, I fucking repeat NOT ONE OF THEM. This week is about fostering relationships in the greek community, and that's not fucking possible if you're going to stand around and talk to each other and not our matchup. Newsflash you stupid cocks: FRATS DON'T LIKE BORING SORORITIES. Oh wait, DOUBLE FUCKING NEWSFLASH: SIGMA NU IS NOT GOING TO WANT TO HANG OUT WITH US IF WE FUCKING SUCK, which by the way in case you're an idiot and need it spelled out for you, WE FUCKING SUCK SO FAR. This also applies to you little shits that have talked openly about post gaming at a different frat IN FRONT OF SIGMA NU BROTHERS. Are you people fucking retarded? That's not a rhetorical question, I LITERALLY want you to email me back telling me if you're mentally slow so I can make sure you don't go to anymore night time events. If Sigma Nu openly said "Yeah we're gonna invite Zeta over", would you be happy? WOULD YOU? No you wouldn't, so WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU DO IT TO THEM?? IN FRONT OF THEM?!! First of all, you SHOULDN'T be post gaming at other frats, I don't give a FUCK if your boyfriend is in it, if your brother is in it, or if your entire family is in that frat. YOU DON'T GO. YOU. DON'T. GO. And you ESPECIALLY do fucking NOT convince other girls to leave with you.

"But Julia!", you say in a whiny little bitch voice to your computer screen as you read this email, "I've been cheering on our teams at all the sports, doesn't that count for something?" NO YOU STUPID FUCKING ASS HATS, IT FUCKING DOESN'T. DO YOU WANNA KNOW FUCKING WHY?!! IT DOESN'T COUNT BECAUSE YOU'VE BEEN FUCKING UP AT SOBER FUCKING EVENTS TOO. I've not only gotten texts about people being fucking WEIRD at sports (for example, being stupid shits and saying stuff like "durr what's kickball?" is not fucking funny), but I've gotten texts about people actually cheering for the opposing team. The opposing. Fucking. Team. ARE YOU FUCKING STUPID?!! I don't give a SHIT about sportsmanship, YOU CHEER FOR OUR GODDAMN TEAM AND NOT THE OTHER ONE, HAVE YOU NEVER BEEN TO A SPORTS GAME? ARE YOU FUCKING BLIND? Or are you just so fucking dense about what it means to make people like you that you think being a good little supporter of the greek community is going to make our matchup happy? Well it's time someone told you, NO ONE FUCKING LIKES THAT, ESPECIALLY OUR FUCKING MATCHUP. I will fucking cunt punt the next person I hear about doing something like that, and I don't give a fuck if you SOR me, I WILL FUCKING ASSAULT YOU.

"Ohhh Julia, I'm now crying because your email has made me oh so so sad". Well good. If this email applies to you in any way, meaning if you are a little asswipe that stands in the corners at night or if you're a weird shit that does weird shit during the day, this following message is for you:

DO NOT GO TO TONIGHT'S EVENT.

I'm not fucking kidding. Don't go. Seriously, if you have done ANYTHING I've mentioned in this email and have some rare disease where you're unable to NOT do these things, then you are HORRIBLE, I repeat, HORRIBLE PR FOR THIS CHAPTER. I would rather have 40 girls that are fun, talk to boys, and not fucking awkward than 80 that are fucking faggots. If you are one of the people that have told me "Oh nooo boo hoo I can't talk to boys I'm too sober", then I pity you because I don't know how you got this far in life, and with that in mind don't fucking show up unless you're going to stop being a goddamn cock block for our chapter. Seriously. I swear to fucking God if I see anyone being a goddamn boner at tonight's event, I will tell you to leave even if you're sober. I'm not even kidding. Try me.

And for those of you who are offended at this email, I would apologize but I really don't give a fuck. Go fuck yourself.

Pretty bad right?

Well I was and always will be a DG sister.  I have mixed feelings about this one though.  On one hand, the general ideals of the organization are to foster friendships and help young women grow into responsible, caring and charitable adults.  After all, our motto is "Do Good."  In some ways joining the house did those things for me.  On the other hand, I learned a lot about myself and what I didn't want in my life.  As much as I would love to say that this type of terrible behavior is all just a myth brought on by rumors and ignorance of people not in the Greek system, it’s just not true.  This type of thing happened a lot.  Maybe not to this extreme but I remember being told, as a group, many times that we were not acting the way that our older sisters wanted for our reputation.  Not because our GPAs were too low or that we were conducting ourselves in an unladylike manner but because we weren't making the house look “good” or “cool”, which might not have been stated literally but it was certainly implied.

There are many positives of “Going Greek”.  Pledging helped me to be part of a group when I was all alone in a scary new place.  I have friendships that have stood the test of time and we have so many memories of incredibly fun times from our college days and after.  I've helped charitable organizations and I've met people from all over the U.S.  In the last few weeks I have seen my sisters all come together to help one of our fellow DGs who was hurt in the Boston bombings and that kind of community and support is astounding. 

But there are negatives too. Most Greek houses do not embrace diversity, individuality, or going against the norm. They bring together like-minded people from the same socioeconomic status and train them to be just like all those that came before them.  Personally, I am a liberal.  I was raised by a strong, independent, single mom who taught me to value my morals and speak out.  When my sorority was doing something that I didn't agree with, I was vocal about it and more than once I chose not to participate or put myself in a position of humiliation for the sake of sisterhood.  This made me somewhat of an outsider.

Ultimately I ended my active membership with the house when I left the University of Arizona.  DG was not my reason for leaving Arizona prior to graduation.  Had I stayed, I probably would have stayed affiliated with the house but limited my participation just to the things I felt were worthwhile. And when it’s all said and done, 13 years later, I still can’t help but feel a little bit of pride and love for my sorority.  I choose to remember it for all of its positives and will always defend it to the many haters out there.

I am thinking about this now that I have a baby girl on the way.  When it comes time for her to start making these types of choices in her life, I hope I will have given her the tools to make the right choice for herself.  I hope she does what is best for her and what helps her to be a confident, tolerant, kind, thoughtful young woman, whether she “Goes Greek” or not.  

If you would like to donate and help out my DG sister and her husband who were injured in the Boston Bombing go to this link. http://www.gofundme.com/2mj2i8

18 Weeks

How Far Along:  18 weeks

Baby Size: About the size of a sweet potato.  I've really popped out, haven't I?  This picture might have just been after a big meal ;)

Total Weight Gain: I guess I won’t know until my next doctor appointment at 20 weeks.

Maternity Clothes: I finally have some maternity clothes and they are so much more comfortable.  They also totally embrace the bump so I look more pregnant than fat.

Stretch Marks: Not yet. Still using the Palmers.

Sleep: I am still sleeping fine. Trying to stay on my side but it’s hard. I might look into a body pillow soon.

Best Moment of the week: I can feel her move!!!

Miss Anything?: I’m not really missing anything in particular right now.

Movement: Yes, but it’s minimal and only when I’m really still.

Food Cravings: Not really.

Anything Making you queasy or sick: Nope.

Gender: Girl.

Labor Signs:  No

Symptoms: Still kind of into nesting.

Belly Button in or out: In

Wedding Rings on or off: On

Mood: Good but a little stressed. Juggling life has been hard lately and now we are moving so that’s one more thing.

Looking forward to: Planning the nursery in our new apartment.

Exercise:  Working out is getting easier and I’m feeling more like myself. Babymoon: We are heading to Maui this week for my bestie’s wedding. I can’t wait to get some down time sunbathing and to see my girl marry her dream man.**this will be the 1st time in 10 years that I will be flying without a Xanax and a beer so more to come on that later.  I’m am ridiculously afraid of heights and flying.

A few more photos from our Day-After Shoot

Gender Reveal

Well...

It’s a Girl!!

We took the grandmas-to-be out to dinner and surprised them by having the bar send over some pink martinis with "It's a girl" charms I made for the stems.  It helps that I work at the restaurant so I could have this all planned ahead.  

They were really surprised and we still got to have a surprise gender reveal, just on a smaller scale. (I don't think I could have handled a party for this occasion)

16 Weeks

***I know this is late but my computer has been broken for the past few weeks.  Week 18 is coming soon also.  How Far Along:  16 weeks

Baby Size: About the size of an avocado

Total Weight Gain: 5lbs. My doctor said that I had only gained 1.5lbs since my last appointment but that it is ok and should average out eventually.

Maternity Clothes: I give up on the bella band.  It just rides up or down or wherever I don’t want it.

Stretch Marks: Not yet. I’m being good about using my Palmer’s Cocoa Butter lotion though, just in case. *Stretch marks may be inevitable for me anyway so I’m ok with it.

Sleep: I’m sleeping well and still on my stomach part of the time. I am trying to train myself to sleep on my left side, since they say that is the best for me and the baby.  I think I move around a lot though.

Best Moment of the week: Finding out the gender!!

Miss Anything?: Beer. I smelled one at work the other night and really wanted a sip.

Movement: No.  I’m dying to feel the baby move and I guess it will happen any time now.

Food Cravings: Spicy again

Anything Making you queasy or sick: No. Actually I feel great.

Gender: Girl.

Labor Signs:  No

Symptoms: Nesting. I am feeling so productive and cleaning/organizing/planning like a crazy person. Also, some heartburn but not too bad.

Belly Button in or out: In

Wedding Rings on or off: On

Mood: Great. I didn't realize it but I think I was a little down in the first trimester, due to being so tired and unproductive (and possibly hormones).

Looking forward to: Feeling some movement. The gender reveal ultrasound confirmed for me that I really could not feel the baby moving L

Exercise:  I have been working out regularly and it has increased my energy.  I feel so much better J The Bump: Getting bigger and I can already see the linea nigra. Actually, I knew it was coming because it was always faintly there. Also, I can really feel the ligaments stretching now. I was wondering how I would know the difference between that and other cramping or aches but it’s totally obvious.