We Have a Mortgage

We are now homeowners, well, condo owners for the same price of a normal home. It's been a long wait and to be honest there were many times I wanted to just forget it and move into a rental. The researching, viewings, waiting, and more waiting never seemed to end. Eventually though, it paid off. Yesterday we closed on a condo in Mountain View, CA that we've been trying to buy for over 3 months. It was a short sale, then foreclosed on, went to auction twice, but with a lot of persistence we were finally able to buy it! It has 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, and an office...so plenty of room for visitors:) There is a lot of remodeling we'd like to do before we move in (and before the baby arrives). We definitely have our hands full, but we are super excited!! I'll try to take some pictures before the demo begins!

Visitors!

Two of my closest friends happened to be in San Francisco the same weekend! Rachael (my bff since 4th grade) and her boyfriend, Andrew, came in for some interviews. Plus, my college roommate, Mitzi came in just for fun! We spent the morning with Rachael and Andrew. I used Yelp to find a good place for brunch and it worked wonders. We ate at Mama's at Washington Square. If the huge line in the picture doesn't attest to how good it is, I will. It was honestly to die for and if you are in the city anytime soon you should make it a priority to go! We then met up with Mitzi and her boyfriend, Kyle. We walked around Pier 39 and then up to Union Square for shopping and hot chocolate. Christian was the photographer, which is why he isn't in any of the pictures and also why I had about ten pictures of my huge belly to choose from!

Rachael and I right before I got scarred by the crazy bush man!

As we approached the restaurant we could tell we were in the right place by the long line!

Mitzi & I in Union Square

25 weeks and growing! 3 1/2 months to go!

Weekend in Wine Country

I had some hotel points that were about to expire so I thought why not use them and see what Napa is all about. Even though it is only 90 minutes away neither of us had ever been there. The weather was perfect (thank goodness since we were planning to bike). We went on a long bike ride around Yountville (just north of Napa), stopped by a delicious bakery for lunch, stopped again for a snack at a random famer's market along the road and used Yelp to find a dinner place in Petaluma. We ate at a Mediterranean restaurant that was a bit off the beaten path, but the food was just as good as the yelpers told us it would be. Such a fun weekend!

Game-Set-Match

We went to a professional men's tennis tournament with our friends Brett & Aubrey. I can't stand watching tennis on TV, but seeing it live is awesome! It was great to get out and enjoy some of the fun things around the city! Also, thanks to Brett's new job we got amazing parking right across the street from the HP Pavilion!

Music to My Ears!

Over the past couple of days random strangers have asked me things like "when are you due?" and "how far along are you?". I couldn't be happier because this means that I am finally past that "is she pregnant or did she just gain weight" point. Keep the pregnancy questions coming!

It's a BOY!

The ultrasound place told me it was going to be 2 1/2 more weeks until they could get me in. I just couldn't bear the thought of waiting until then, especially after being told it could be a girl, so I called to see what other ultrasound locations I could go to. I had to drive to San Mateo and I may have slightly fibbed that I was a bit farther along than I actually was, but I was able to get an appointment the next day! The Dr. almost laughed when I said we were told it was probably a girl. She said that after 35 years of work she'll quit her job if it's not a boy. We can't wait for our little baby boy to arrive.

The ultrasound technician loved cruise ships so when I told her we worked on cruise ships she was my new best friend. She did the 3D images "just for fun" and took way more pictures than she needed to. Here are some of my favorites:

Camera shy...Once we started the 3D images he covered his face with his arm so we couldn't get a good shot of his face. After several attempts though we did get this profile picture.

His tiny little feet!

Boy or Girl???

We thought today was the day we were finally going to find out what the stork is bringing us, but no such luck. The Dr. said that if he had to guess he would say it is girl (the last ultrasound it looked like a boy), but he didn't know for sure. Next week I have an anatomy scan where we'll find out for sure! I guess one more week of suspense and one more week until the shopping begins!

Delaying the Inevitable

A couple days ago I finally gave into maternity jeans and now I'm kicking myself for not wearing them sooner. No more feeling ginormous every morning because I can't button yet another pair of jeans! Thank you spandex! (The picture is courtesy of Google)

Ringing in the New Year

I flew in from Park City on New Years Eve. We had a rockin' evening which consisted of me feeling sick after eating cookie batter Christian made that had way too much salt and going to bed around 9:30pm. The next morning, I quickly found out that New Years Day at the Hansen's is Christmas decoration clean-up. If that doesn't seem like a big deal, it's because you've never been to their home during the holidays. It looks like the Christmas section of a large department store. After we finished, we went over to the Wheatley's because Robert had a motorcycle that wasn't working and Christian & Doug wanted to try to fix it. After many unsuccessful attempts they gave up and road the dirt bike around. Doug decided to make a "ramp" out of wood lying around. After one jump it quickly turned into a competition of who could go higher, which was only fueled by Courtney taking pictures and egging them on. I'm just grateful we didn't end up in the ER! So much for naps, football, and appetizers on New Years Day.

Meet the Newest Hansen

For all those people that were thinking the holidays were good to Steph's waistline or Steph must have loved that cruise food...there's a little bit of truth to that, but I do have another excuse! We are expecting our first little bundle of joy this summer. The official due date is July 3rd. While we were in Utah for Christmas Christian's uncle, Flint, did our first ultrasound. He thinks it is a boy, but it is still a bit early to tell. Here is our little guy's first photo shoot:

As soon as we started the ultrasound he started sucking his thumb and he had the hiccups so he was bouncing all over the place.

Sleigh Bells

The day after Christmas we went up to Deer Valley for a sleigh ride and dinner. I don't think any of us realized how cold it gets just sitting outside in the snow, but it was still really fun. We bundled up the best we could and Christian played Christmas music on his phone as we trotted along. Afterwards we had reservations at Glitretind at the Stein Eriksen Lodge, but there was an hour wait. Once we figured out that we could order the same food at their other restaurant and all we'd be missing out on was the fancy table cloths, we were all over it.

White Christmas

We spent Christmas in Park City, Utah this year with my family. It was the first time any of us had ever had a white Christmas. It snowed about 50 in. the few days before we arrived so there was not only great skiing, but it was beautiful. Christmas morning Christian & I made breakfast and we opened presents. Then Christian, Corbin, and I went skiing at Park City. When we returned home Mom cooked her yummy Chrismas ham dinner. I attempted to make our favorite raspberry ribbon pie on Christmas Eve, but I over whipped the cream and ruined it. Since no stores were open we improvised with the ingredients we had at the house and it actually turned out pretty good! We have all loved being here during the holidays...I think we might make this a new tradition!

Family photo op.

We arrived on Dec. 23rd so we decorated a little decorative tree already at the place. It did the job!

Goodbye flip phone. Christian got me my first smart phone! I still can't believe what I've been missing out on!!

7 for all mankind maternity jeans from my mom! It actually made me a little excited for when I need to wear these!!

I gave Corbin a lottery scratch ticket. Unknown to him and everyone else it was a FAKE ticket. I about died laughing watching him react to "winning" $10,000.

Corbin gave me my first "baby" outfit. He obviously hasn't been around many babies because the t-shirt was a 4T...in 4 years I'm sure the baby is going to love it!

Park City! I wanted to take it easy so I rented skis instead of snowboarding. It was the 2nd time I've skied since Jr. High.

Corbin wiping out on a jump.

I was just trying to make it down alive. Can you tell it has been a while?

Land Legs

We sailed our final cruise and we are officially land based now! It's definitely a little bitter sweet...no more traveling, unlimited food & room service, and most importantly there's no one to make our bed and clean our bathroom everyday. Nevertheless, we are excited to finally have family & friends nearby, unlimited access to cell phones and internet, cars, and much more! We moved back to Christian's hometown Los Altos, CA (about 40 min. south of San Francisco) and Christian already started a job at a property management company named Robert Wheatly Properties. It hasn't really set in that we aren't going back to ships yet, but we are really enjoying this more "normal" life!

Cruise Update

We just finished a 5 week stint on a ship in the Western Caribbean! After being rerouted nearly every week due to hurricanes we were so ready to get off and be on vacation. We spent our first week on land at Walt Disney World followed by a cruise with Christian's family. There was 30 Hansens in the group. We sailed on the Royal Caribbean Freedom of the Seas and visited Cocoa Cay, Bahamas, St. Thomas & St. Maarten. Here are some highlights from my first cruise as a passenger! In St. Thomas we rented scooters and toured around the island. After over 2 years of cruising around the Caribbean this was one of the only islands we never visited! I'm still not quite sure how we all made it back in one piece between driving on the other side of the road and the sun going down. St. Maarten! After visiting old friends we went to the beach and Christian, Doug & Stan went scuba diving! Soccer champions. The "H-Factor" won gold at the soccer tournament. I'm not sure if it's really fair since 3/6 played college soccer, but we'll take it.

Tyler, Lauren, & Mackenzie!
Christian, Doug & Stan were obsessed with the Flow Rider. Every single morning they woke up for the 8am "Advanced Surf Session". Stan actually rented the entire Flow Rider 2 nights for extra practice sessions. They were 3 of the 4 people invited to the Grand Finale Surf Competition and Doug took the top prize!

Clearly I needed a little more practice.

Mall Blart

In Tampa we rented bikes from the ship and rode to a nearby mall. After doing some shopping, we went to get on our bikes and head back to the ship. To our shock, our bikes had been “booted” with a massive lock and a sign saying we were parked in an “unauthorized bike storage location”. I felt like I was in college all over again. Anyway, we had to call a #, a security guy picked us up and drove us to the security station to fill out the bike release paperwork. He explained that bike thefts were common and they locked them up “for our protection”. He then proceeded to give us a tour of the authorized bike parking locations & point out all 57 security cameras.

Here we go...again

We are in Tampa today getting ready to board the Holland America Ryndam. We'll be onboard for 6 weeks doing two different 7 day itineraries to: Key West, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, & Cozumel then Key West, Roatan, Costa Maya & Belize! After getting a taste of life on land it's a little bitter sweet. I've gotten all too used to internet, cell phones, and actually choosing what's for dinner, but I'm excited for some beaches & homemade guacamole in Cozumel!

Happiest Place on Earth!

I've never been so excited to go to "work". Right now we are at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort for a company conference. We are here for 9 days and since the training is only 5 days there has been plenty of time for sun, swimsuits, and even a little Mickey! That red cup has entitled me to unlimited free fountain Diet Coke ALL week...yay:) Have you ever watched those Publisher Clearing House commercials and just wished they would come knocking on your door?? Well at Disneyland I guess dreams really do come true...we unexpectedly won a del sol competition and even though it had a couple less zeros, I can assure you being handed that enormous check is just as exciting as it looks.

Shopping Ambassadors taking over Disney World! For one of our activities we went to the Magic Kingdom with the entire group. It was sponsored by Del Sol and they provided t-shirts for everyone. Can you guess who was in our group?

Thunder Mountain!

Alina, Linda, Gail, Kim & Me. Some of the girls we work with that I never get to see because we are all on different ships.