Everyone is doing good for the most part.  Kansas CIty area schools and hospitals were hit by an epidemic of the flu.  Well everyone in this household got it this last week.  I thought that my morning sickness was getting to me....turns out it was the flu when Devin started feeling poorly too.  Other than that we have been doing really good.  The pregnancy is going good, in fact on the 20th of last month I got an ultrasound done and got to see the heartbeat also.  Was so cool!  I can't wait till my next appointment which is the 20th of this month.  I hope that we can hear the heartbeat with the doppler.

SO what about you?  What is new in your life?  How are you and your friend doing?  I hope that you are doing good.  Talk to you soon. ........................bren

Sure that would be great.  It would be nice to meet you.  I am glad your allergies aren't acting up.  We had our first great spring day here finally but the weather men say its not going to last.  I so want spring to be here.  BUt beeing even from Nebraska I realize it can snow up till May, which is practically summer.  I just hope that its over for this year.  I guess we will see.  Talk to ya soon...bren

Hey just had a moment so I thought I would check in with you.  Things are going good, just been super busy as of late.   Well to let you know about NE- most of it like where i came from- is very isolated.  The two major metro areas Lincoln and Omaha are only an hour apart and at the southern end of the State close to major highways/interstates.  I have been through Bridgeport- my brother did the young three-throw contest for the Knights of Columbus and I was in FFA and Drama/Speech tournaments, also science fairs-in fact most towns in NE i have been through or stopped in.  The town of Valentine really doesn't get hit by tornados - just around it - so i never experienced one till I moved to Lincoln to attend college.Valentine is mostly cattle ranching, that is pretty much a bunch of northern and western Neb. The rest for the most part is farming.  I really loved Lincoln.   It was just big enough for me, yet you could get to know people pretty easy, at least when I lived there back in 1997-2000.  I really don't think of it now as a huge metro area now since moving to Kansas City, yet I do miss it occasionally.  What are things that you like to do or be around?  I could tell you if either area has those things, and then I could tell you if you would like it or not.   Cause one thing i have discovered is if you have most of what you want, no place is perfect, you will love your location.  Well I got to go finish up some things.  I will try to write to you soon.....................Bren

Hey there.  Pregancy is going good.  Feeling pretty good and starting to feel the baby kick.  Still have no idea what it is but we will at my 20 wk ultrasound visit, so it looks like some time in may. Today i am 14 wks along so 6 wks from now.  Or is that June? Well any how it is no big deal.. here soon i will know.  My belly has actually started to get a bit bigger, or at least I feel more comfortable in maternity pants.  Don't worry about asking... i like having someone i can talk to about it.  I feel really bad for the patients that I draw blood from whom come to our office.       i don't feel comfortable talking about it right now with them(i don't know if i mentioned it- i work at a fertility clinic) since i see so many different strugles to get and stay pregnant.  I really hope your prediction will come true too.  I am really starting to look forward to a little girl.  So what is up with you?  Is everything ok?  Why are you lost and confused about where to go?  All i can say is follow your heart or "gut".  It always knows best.  ANd if you don't like it you can always start over some where else. It doesn't have to be permanant unless you want it to be.  You can always make anywhere home with good friends and if you feel like there is something there you trully enjoy.  Look at me sometimes i really bitch about my job, but  I really do love it, I like my coworkers and what i do for others.  That means the most for me.   Sure I have my gripes but overall i can't imagine me not doing my job.  It is the same with home.  FInd that place that even though it is not perfect you wouldn't give it up, for at least not more than a vacation.  You will know when you get there.  Stay in touch and let me know how things are going ok.  Take it easy......love bren

Hey there.  Thanks much for the well wishes.  I hope you are well and doing good.  Write me whenever you have the time.  oh and by the way i find out may 30th what the sex is if all goes to plan.  Can not wait to let you know if you were right.  Talk to ya soon.  love bren

Hey there, I am so happy to hear from you! I am so glad that things are going well for you that is great!!! My morning sickness left around 16 weeks or so.  I am doing good.  Devin had his last day of of preschool on Friday.  Now he is off to Kindergarden this coming Fall.  I am so proud but yet scared for him too.  Or maybe i am being to paranoid about my baby growing up like so many other mothers.  I will definately be posting that night to let you know what it is. I can not wait!!! I am so excited!!!

I am so glad that you found out what makes you happy.  That is the most important thing in life.  By the way what is the name of your cat in your avatar currently- the black and white one- i forgot if you ever said what its name was?  I love your photos so i know you will do great.  Other people have also commented on the fact that they are so cool, so success is definately in your future.  Well i got to get going.  Write me when you can, and i will let you know after or on the 30th what we found out.  love-bren

Hey there.  Well i know that you are excited to hear, so first off:  the ultrasound tech says she is 95% POSITIVE it is a GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!   Way to go! you were so right.  Now i am trying to be positive but it never really opened its legs apart so I still have a 5% chance of a boy, but i feel like you are right.   It just clicks. 

My birthday is December 1978 so i am year of Horse and a Sagitarian.  Devins birthday is nov 2002 so he is also the exact same thing as me.  How weird huh.  Devin will be turning 6 when he enters Kindergarden but truely I am glad that we waited.  I was also 5 going on 6 when i entered Kindergarden too so I think that it will be good for him. 

I do worry about Kindergarden here though, cause well, the schools are so different from my home town.  I didn't get him enrolled in soccer for this year cause it started earlier than I expected and cost too much at the time.  However he is signed up for swim lessons this summer and I will try for the fall registration for soccer depending on how he handles the transition to Kindgarden and the new baby.  ALso if I can handle it too.  LOL.

cont..  I think I coming to like Missouri more and more as time goes on.  I am getting to know more of my neighbors slowly, which is making the area more friendly.  What I don't like about our area is 1)  no decent small restaurants- you know mom and pop places- or delis that sort of thing 2)  Meat in my home town was cheaper than here and the quality was MUCH Beter than here, due to it being local.  Like raised within 10-50 miles and butchered nearby by the local meat market. 3) we also live in a corner house- and people sometime fly by on our street going way too fast, not watching for kids. 4)  I am not in love with this house.  Don't know why just doesn't have that vibe like my last one did. 5) the streets have no sidewalks in our area- in other parts of the city they do- just not in my nieghborhood and have drainage ditches with paved roads.  Still do not get or understand that combo.  Maybe I am just being picky but I like you have a feeling that something else is nearby, that is my place to be........

  I really love the pictures of Piere and Pixie.  They are very photogenic and so adorable.  I am really happy for you.  It meant a bunch to me to find my profession and too love it so much, so for you to do the same-  I am just so glad for you!!!!!!!!!!  I wish you all the happiness in the world.  So when do you move?  Have you found your lot yet?  Well i hope that you are doing well and things are all working out for you.  Talk to ya soon love Bren............................btw did you see on the news the weird midwest storms that occured in the last week or so in Nebraska and in Iowa.  My second cousin was killed in the tornado that hit and destroyed the area around Parkesburg IA.  I didn;t remember them or really know them that well but my mom did of course.  This weather is so strange.  I hope your area is fairing beter than ours.

Oh that is ok.  I really can't say that I knew her well anyway.  I am not trying to sound cold.  I wish I hadknown her beter.  She was my second cousin and we didn't spend a bunch of time around them, or at least I didn't.  My mom did but that was when she was little.  She moved to Nebraska with my dad a little bit before I was born and we went back to see her family maybe at best once a year.  And then it was mainly her sisters and her parents.  I think it was partly because my mom married such an older man than her, and her family wasn't too keen on my dad because of the age gap.  No one is going to leave the area.  We from the midwest I guess just accept the weather for what it is.  We realize that tornados can happen, they are just such a freak thing when they occur that we always are not prepared for them.  Its kind of like this-  every time there is a bad thunderstorm, it can have the capacity to have a tornado with it-  it actually occurs maybe one in a thousand times of having this weather.  So it becomes very easy to say, "Nah, your just being paranoid- the worst that you will see is large hail."  Not always the case such as this year.  But even our weather men get the surrounding area all hyped up about a storm front, which then turns out to be just rain, so its very easy to become jaded.  Like the boy who cried wolf.

You are not being irrational about being warry of moving places with extreme weather.  We all have our own comfort zones.  Its what you grew up with.  I don't hardly think of things like tornados, blizzards, and extreme cold temps but they can or do occur in the Midwest.  However I don't know if i could deal with an earthquake or lots of urban issues.  I like that I can still at least travel a couple of hours and be in the country area, but that is just me. 

We would like to move from our house but right now our budget does not allow for it.  So we will just have to make due untill Boe's income changes or we win the lottery. LOL.  Not planning on that but would be nice. 

We have on one boy name picked out so far just in case - it is Nathaniel David and for girls we have 3- Linsay (liking it less every day for some reason-: Tori and Rylee are the main contenders right now.  THe middle name is going to be close sounding to my best friend's name Kate Lee.  So something  Like Kaylee,Katherine, Kaylynn, etc.... we will narrow it more later.  I am just glad that we can finally agree on at least 3 names, when we started Boe and I had totally different opinions on things- basically all the names i thought were cute he thought were too weird or hippyish.  So sommon ground is good.  Well I got to get going.  Talk to you soon...............love bren

Hey there.  Sorry to hear about your confusion.  I will try to help.  I guess first off- what is it YOU really want?  What do you require to be happy?  After doing some searching I believe the answer will come to you.  I don't believe in moving just for one person.  I know I may not seem like the best example, however I also had my brother who lives down here in the Kansas City area, so I wasn't completely alone had things not worked out with Boe.  I like my sign, I LOVE to travel.  I also imagine myself living in different locals.  So having the Feeling to move is not uncommon or wrong to have.  I guess one alternative is just travel to the different spots at different times during the year if you can.  It might give you a better idea of what the area is like.  I checked it out down here before I agreed to move that is for sure.  You probably then will discover the area right for you.  If I didn't have Devin and was not such a scaredy cat- that is probably what I would have done.  I have always wondered what it would be like to be a temporary fill-in lab tech.  They get to go to different locations and fill in for people temporary at hospitals and clinics.   I always thought that would be cool.

CONT.... But I am glad right now of where my life is at and has taken me.  I am feeling pretty good - the baby is moving around some.  Well its probably more than I realize, cause I only realize it when I am sitting still- which doesn;t occur as much as I would like it to.  Devin and Boe are doing well.  In fact we just got home from Devin's swim lessons.  He is doing really well in them.  He doesn't seem to be the least bit afraid of water anymore.   I have two Baby registries currently.  I am registered at Target and Babies-R-Us.  My full name is Brenda Bowen.  I think you will be able to find them if you type in my name and the Kansas City area.  I am not completely sure on that though cause I have never done it.  One of my coworkers is going to give me a shower and think so is my mother-in-law, but I am not completely sure when they are planning them for.  Can you believe that I am 6 months along!!!? It hardly seems possible.  Well I had beter get some other things done before bed.  Take it easy and I will talk at you again very soon.   ..............love bren

I don't think so.  I think the dreams are telling you of different places that you will see or be in your life.  Maybe you will travel around during your lifetime.  Or it could be that its going over your options that you have debated.  I guess i kind of, moved because of Boe.  I mean I have a house in Valentine that I put on the market when I left.  I bought it though thinking that staying in Valentine was a possibilty, yet I wasn't satisfied there.  I felt like there was something else out there.  Meeting Boe was a complete accident.

cont...  I was on call for the hospital I had been working at for two years.  Since Valentine is small and I know just about everyone there the dating pool was VERY small.  You either knew who the guys had been with, they were losers or users that had dated one of your friends, or they were married.  In any case I was bored.  ONe night I was trying to kill time on the internet while i was waiting for one of my tests to get done running so i could report it to the doctor and get home for a couple of more hours of sleep.  This is how call basically works:  The hospital calls you when they have someone they need tests ran on, you get up, go to the hospital, draw patient, run said tests, report them to nurses and doctors, make sure no one else needs lab work and need to be drawn, and head home.  This process is repeated throughout the night until the morning shift comes in whom work 6am-4PM, or by yourself on a weekend.  After 4 pm you can go home, and repeat process from night before.  Sometimes you got lucky.  Sometimes no one needed lab work that came to the ER, or noone came to the ER at all.  But you can see that wasn't very often. ... Anyway back to the subject...I was surfing the net when something caught my eye.  It was a blinking ad for a site that could tell you your IQ.  I had always wanted to know that.

cont....(this by the way is long story)  So I got on the site and took the test.   I don't even remember getting my number, in fact I think to get it I had to pay so I didn't.   However the site got me hooked.  It said for free I could do these "tests" like the ones in Cosmo and other girly mags.  Say like one of the tests was "what kind of dog are you", and based on your answers it would tell you what you were.  Then you could talk or "meet" other people with the same results on their sister site Love Happens.  I thought- what the hell, i enjoy meeting new people and chatting with them- why not.  It also helped that I had been single for over year after I divorced Devin's biodad who was in prision.  Well just got out with some help from me, I should say, because I told the parole board that Devin needed his dad and Matt told me he was changed and coming home to be a decent man. Whatever!  I wasn't romatically interested in Matt, just thought I owed Devin that.  Totally wrong.  Sorry off on a tangent again.  So I took a bunch of tests and based on that they show you profiles of people whom should click with you.  I picked that I wanted "a friend" or "possible love interest" as one of my criteria. There was quite a bit of criteria, and after every test the list kept getting smaller and smaller.   After about 6-10 different times on the site Boe's picture and profile appeared.  I thought well he's kind of cute and according to the profile of what I want- he fits it, so I will give him a shout out.

still cont... sorry i am windy tonight.... Well he out of three people I wrote- he was the one who wrote back first.  I was really intrigued by him.  We exchanged emails and starting chatting.  Small talk that sort of thing.  Well he gave me his number one night out of the blue so I called him.  We had such a great time and he was so easy to talk to that we made it a pretty regular thing.  God one night we stayed on the phone 6 hrs!  THank god that time was my free night minutes. lol.  Well anyway you can about guess the rest.  I asked him if he wanted to meet, which of course he said yes and met up in Omaha NE/ Council Bluffs, IA.  We kept going places in our surrounding areas to meet up.  Omaha, I to Kansas city, he came to Valentine etc.  Well this all started in the end of july, by December he had asked me to marry him.  THe only thing that really scared me was leaving to move to Kansas City, cause unfortunately computers programers had no oportunites in Valentine and he didn't want to leave his area.  So I did.  And the rest as they say is history.  It was not easy leaving Valentine but I am glad i did.  I knew the risks going in though, I will not ever deny that.  It could have been way different but I tried to be careful too as I followed my heart.  I always left myself a way out, just in case.

After I married him last October I kept letting go of those way outs.  I realized I couldn't be ready to run at a moments notice and that it was going to be ok.  He wasn;t like the other men that I have been with and I could actually trust him.  So here I am now.  I have also had some crazy prego dreams as of late.  Very vivid.  One of them was of my "dream home".  I know that it is somewhere where Boe and our family is together happily so I think that it is nearby.  All I remember form the dream is going over railroad tracks, older home surrounded by trees.  Down here that could be a needle in a haystack.  I know though that eventually I will find it, it just might be a while before I do.  SO i guess I just need to be patient and go with my gut feeling when that comes.  Well I hope you liked my short novel there.LOL.  Hope I didn't take up too much of your time.  Anyway write back to me whenever you can.  You can always talk to me about anything, i don't mind at all.  I think you are going to find your location soon.  ....................love...........bren

Hey there.  I am so glad for you!!!  Austin congrats!!  I am sure that you will love it.  And if not just keep on trying.  I do not have a blog currently.  I have a hard enough time checking all my email and all the sites I like to go to to catch up on what is occuring on them. lol.  Sometimes I can barely get on my computer due to having way to much to do at home.  I guess that is life.  So that Seattle guy is still pursueing you.  I agree with you what a tease.  I hate when guys pull that bull... don't want you until you are over them. 

WOW!! I am so impressed with your photography.  I knew you would be successful doing that.  You really take some awesome photos.  What kind of camera did you get?  Is it just digital or is it just for professional photography shots? 

cont......  Devin's dad I haven't seen in almost 5 years and haven't actually heard from him via letter in 2-3 years.  He wrote us one stinking letter 2-3 years ago out of blue around HIS own birthday, NOT Devin's, to day he was sorry, and hopefully when his probation was over he would come to Valentine to see us.  HAH!  Little did he know that we had moved to Kansas City WAY before.  Last time I knew- he was living back with his mother and stepfather in a small Missouri town, called Tarkio.  He was put into prision for the following things:embezzling from a trucking company, writing three bad checks all over $2,000 in two different states, and evading arrest.  When they caught up with him I for one had NO IDEA that he had a prior criminal record, let alone a warrant for his arrest when we got married.  Low and behold when Devin turned 6 months the law caught up with him and arrested him and I found out how VERRY LITTLE I knew about my own husband.  He was with me for two whole years and never thought to mention it!!  Well any way it turned out for the best.  I got custody of Devin, child support of a mere $75 a month, which I have never recieved, and Matt-Devin's dad was supposed to have only supervised vistations, which he never has asked for.  But the best thing is Devin has no memory of his dad..........cont........

We had visited Matt while he was in prision, cause I was trying to be fair.  I thought Devin should at least know who his father was even if I wouldn't have anything to do with him.  Not that Matt didn't try to win me back while he was in there.  I just didn't trust his letters which he had plenty of time to write.  He kept promising us that when he got out he would be an honest man and make everything up to us.  He was going to be Devin's dad and be a changed person...  Yada Yada ....  Thank god I knew deep down he was lying and put little stock in what he said.  Well I am glad that Devin doesn't remember those days.  I am not hiding it from him,  I am just not pushing him to remember anything.  As far as Devin knows Boe is dad- we just were not with him when we lived at the "old house".  I just don't correct him, and Boe wants to adopt him legally so in a couple of years it won't matter any way.  I have letters and pictures of Matt if Devin ever asks but we shall see.  I hope that I don't have to discuss this with him for many years.    I also hope by that time I have found "Our House".  I am glad that you also pay attention to dreams too.  For a while there I thought that I was the only one that really took stock in them.. or even had such vivid ones.  Nice to know that someone else does too.  Well I got to get some laundry done.  Talk at you soon. love..........bren

WOW!!!!!!!!!THAT CAMERA ROCKS!  Those are some Kick Ass photos.  I really like the yarn one.  But they are all very cool.  You deserve the praise.  Not everyone is that talented.  So when do you go to Austin.  Hopefully its in the cooler season so you can take advantage of the warmer southern weather.  I don't know if I would like to live there in the summer.  I hear it can be very warm, however I guess here in Missouri we have similar weather.  I know that humidity wise, here is much worse than Valentine.  I so hate the humidity.  Give me dry heat any day.  At least I can sweat properly then.

Well today I had anohter ultrasound.  The baby- she for now- is doing good.  I can not believe I only have three months left.  I am so going to post a picture of the nursery once it is done.  However that could be awhile.  We are just now finishing up with the basement, so that the office can go down there.  Then the office becomes Devin's room, and Devin's room becomes the nursery.  Lots to get done before October.  I just got to keep thinking positive that it will be completed before she gets here and not panic.    Well I got to get going.  More house things to get done before bed again.  Talk at you later...........love, bren

Hey there!!! I was just thinking about you the other day!  How are you?  I am doing good.  Only two more months to go.  My little girl is gaining weight and doing pretty good.  I wish I had a decent scanner I could show you the ultrasound pics, but unfortunately I can't.  The doctor told me that if she doesn't come on her own, we will be doing a planned c-sect on Oct 1, 2008.  I can't wait to see her.  We are all excited about her.  Now its just a manner of finishing everything before her arrival.  I will try to remember to post some pics of the basement and finished rooms for sure as soon as I can.  Well I got to go.  Lots to do tonight since it finally is starting to cool off here.  Write to me soon.  I am dying to here what you have been up too. ...........................love,   bren

Oh those are really cool pictures!  My favorites are the first and the last ones.  I am really impressed with your artistic talent. I am going to download some of my pictures of my cat and of my pregnant belly.  No where as good as yours but what the hey.  If my husband can find his memory card reader or whatever he is right now looking for.

I will not be taking maternity leave until her arrival.  My job- since i am in the medical field - is a little tougher to get time off.  After her birth i will only be taking 6 wks off, unless god forbid anything wrong happens then it could be more.  Hell right now my employer is freaking out about 6wks> I can't imagine if I have to take more time off.  They will have a cow but they will have to just deal I suppose.  Any way i am just trying to take it easy as I can and let things not get me worked up.  Even though it is really annoying that nothing has been accomplished- as far as remoldeling the rooms is done.  But that is what happens when you are down to only my income for a whole month.  But its ok now.  Boe got another programer job and things are looking up.  I just have to be patient.  Well I am going to download these photos or at least try.  Write back soon if you can. love.........bren