JAMSquared

As most of my faithful blog readers know, James and I play World of Warcraft, a massively multi-player online game. Our small guild consists mostly of friends here in Austin, but we have a small number of guildies who live elsewhere. Back at the beginning of May, Mona and Dean, who both live in the San Francisco area, and Eric, who lives in Atlanta, came to visit. We had a lot of fun visiting, doing touristy Austin stuff, and of course talking about WoW.

Friday night, we went to Salt Lick so our visitors could experience true Texas barbecue. Then we played pool and hung out at Aric’s house. I think we had enough non-WoW conversation that my friend Kristy, Aric’s wife and lone non-WoW player, wasn’t bored with us.

 

 

Saturday started off pretty early (well early for me who typically sleeps until 10 or noon Saturdays) with Chocolate Chip Cinnamon Roll Coffee Cake followed by visiting the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. It was too late for bluebonnets and a tad too early for the cacti blossoms, but it was beautiful and the weather was really nice.

For lunch, we went to the Alamo Drafthouse, an Austin movie theater original that serves food and beverages (what other theater can you buy and drink beer at?) and saw X-Men Origins: Wolvervine, an excellent movie. Then we visited the Texas Capitol. I totally think no visitor to Austin should skip this attraction. The Capitol is a beautiful building constructed of Texas granite and completed in 1888. I especially love the dome: outside with the lady liberty at the top, inside from the ground floor looking up or inside from the 2nd or 3rd floors looking down at the five different Texan crests in the marble floor.

 

 

 

 

Afterward, we went back to our house where I put Dean and Ranger to work (they offered) helping me prepare the food for the guild party, which was a lot of fun.

On Sunday, we went to Mount Bonnell, the highest point in Austin (which isn’t saying much). You do have some nice views of the Austin downtown skyline and Lake Austin, but the views weren’t quite as good as I remembered. Of course, since the last time I was there was almost 6 years ago when James proposed, tree growth and euphoric romantic feelings could bias my memories.

 

 

We then had lunch at Texadelphia, another Austin original that serves a Texas version of the Philly cheesesteak. We then checked out the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum. It was the first time James and I had gone there even though it opened in 2001. I really enjoyed the museum, especially the special exhibit about immigration through the port of Galveston (ya’ll know my love of genealogy). It is definitely a museum that I would enjoy spending some more time visiting. Keep in mind photography is not allowed. It is also home to Austin’s only IMAX theater.

After dropping Eric off at the airport, we went to Chuy’s, another Austin original (we can’t take guests to any old restaurant) where we chowed down on excellent Tex-Mex and chatted with current and former guildies (it is sad to say, but people do come and go in the land of WoW).

 

 

James dropped Mona and Dean off at the airport Monday morning before work and our weekend came to a close. It was a great weekend and it is safe to say that Mona, Dean and Eric enjoyed their trip to Austin.

James and I have made great strides in preparing for Baby JAM. We have purchased the nursery furniture and it will arrive soon. The room is going to have a rainforest theme (similar to my initial thoughts of a jungle, but with no elephant). Once the furniture arrives and we put it together and start decorating, I’ll post pictures of the room, but for now, you’ll have to settle for a picture of the bedding we chose.

It’s amazing to think that we’re at week 26 and in another 14 weeks, she’ll be here. Wow, the time is flying. At my last appointment (week 24), I had gained 6 pounds since the beginning of the pregnancy, all of which had been gained between weeks 20 and 24. She is a very active baby as I feel her kicking quite frequently with her most active in the evenings. We went and saw Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (which was excellent btw) at the IMAX theater last Wednesday night and she was kicking throughout the entire movie. I guess because of the loudness of the movie.

I feel like I’m actually looking like a pregnant woman, but I don’t feel like I’m one of those super cute pregnant women you see. Maybe it’s just my hormones making me feel that way. I’ll let you judge. Below are the next three installments of my biweekly photo shoots. James is a pretty good photographer when he actually has the camera. See this post for the previous three installments.

I know a lot of people are curious if we have decided on a name yet. We’ve decided that Baby JAM’s middle name is going to be Ann since I’m Jennifer Ann, my Mom is Mary Ann and James’ Mom is Olivia Ann. However, we still haven’t decided on a first name, but we have a few in the running.  Hopefully, with the help of baby name book I purchased, we’ll have decided by the time she arrives.

So I went with my hubby and a group of friends to see the new Harry Potter movie tonight. OMG, it was really good. However, I do have some complaints.

1. Umbridge was not toad-like looking enough. Other than that, I think Imelda Staunton did an excellent job of portraying Dolores Jane Umbridge.
2. They left out a number of bits, specifically the older Weasley boys involvement with Fudge. Although, the movie being only 2.5 hours can’t possibly cover the many hundred pages the book covers.
3. I guess that’s it.

You so have to see it. It is fantastic. Gosh, I need to reread all the book again. The next and last one comes out next week. Now, just to convince my hubby, who isn’t much of a reader, to read them.