Life 365 | Week 11

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! I hope you all have a fun and safe holiday! Today I’m sharing week 11 of Life 365. Leave a comment if you are sharing photos too, I’d love to check them out. 

10 :: I’m starting a Murad skin regimen so I took a “before” photo of my skin. We will see how things look in a month.

11 :: My mom sent me my favorite girl scout cookies! I look forward to these every year!

12 :: There was a 5-alarm apartment construction fire a couple blocks away from my apartment on Tuesday evening and on Wednesday morning they were still putting out the fire. Thank God for the brave men and women of SFFD. 

13 :: I had a delicious banana split the other night and yes, that’s a mixing bowl I used. 

14 :: One word - MACARONS. Yummy!

15 :: I’ve had my eye on this gorgeous Kate Spade wallet so I decided to treat myself. 

16 :: Spring is nearly upon us and what better way to celebrate than with pretty tulips? 

This is my last full week in clinic before the quarter is over and I have final exams on Friday, yikes! I definitely need to get to studying.

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Life 365 | Week 10

Happy Monday everyone! Although I love the extra hour of sunshine in the evening, daylight savings time really does a number on my sleep schedule. I definitely spent last night tossing and turning. I have the poor sleep double whammy - pregnancy and time changes. Oh well!

Today I’m sharing my lovely photos from week 10 of Life 365 and I’m linking up with Brittney over at Teaberry Trails. 

3 :: My sweet husband has been spending a lot of time giving me feet massages lately. What a peach.

4 :: I had another OB appointment last week. I actually look forward to them because I get a chance to ask my questions and hear the heartbeat. I could listen to that sound all day.

5 :: I love this teal maternity shirt. There is something so lovely about wearing shirts that actually fit over this growing belly of mine.

6 :: Paul went out of town for a boy’s weekend but pre-ordered Catching Fire for me to watch while he was gone. This is my excited face.

7 :: I had a lovely dinner at The City Club in San Francisco on Friday night with my Dental Fraternity, Xi Psi Phi. The architecture was absolutely gorgeous.

8 :: If you know me, you know I have quite the obsession with pens. If you have never used Sharpie pens, I suggest you go buy some right now.

9 :: I had another facial this weekend and I loved the Murad products she used on my face. I’ve decided to do a month-long before and after skin comparison with this product so stay tuned.

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A day in the life of the husband

I asked my husband to do a guest post for me and boy, did he deliver! I hope you enjoy what he has to say as much as I did. 

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Hello Substance and Soul blog readers and all you anonymous folks!

Samantha has mentioned me several times in her blog but for those who do not know me, my name is Paul Wetterholm! I am the Husband who loves and supports Samantha in her endeavors.

I grew up in Bakersfield, CA with my mom (Beverly) and dad (Mark) and two brothers (Joel & Neal) and big sister (Amber). To those of you who don’t care for Bakersfield, I don’t care for you! Not really, but I did enjoy living in Bakersfield all the way up through high school. I am a jock who loves to follow many sports like baseball, basketball, and golf but my favorite sport of all is tennis. I started playing in high school and went to Cal Lutheran to play with my brother! If it weren’t for my brother’s positive influence on me, I would not have gone to school there and would not have met Samantha. I got to meet Samantha in my junior year and my life changed for the best.

Samantha and I were married in July of 2011 and it still seems like yesterday. I wanted to write and give you all a perspective of what it is like to be me and be married to a dental student/blogger/artist/music lover. In upcoming posts, I also want to share some of my perspective on how to be a supportive husband, and finally I want to maybe talk about some weird things because I have always been a little weird. Since I do not read many blogs, I do not have a clue on how to do this but I am going to give it a shot!

Here are the pleasures of marrying my lovely dentist Samantha (insert smiley/shinny teethy face here): 

Opportunity to go somewhere new. Being married to Samantha meant I knew I was committing to a life of new experiences involving our style of living and where we lived. At first, I did not like the idea of her looking into dental schools all over the county from Boston to Fort Lauderdale but then I asked myself, “When else would I get the opportunity to live and adapt to a new environment and experience this?” I am someone who is close to family and certainly would like to at least have the opportunity to visit on weekends whenever I chose but marrying Samantha gave me more priorities in life and a new perspective. My hesitant thoughts switched to those of opportunism and I gave Samantha the green light to pick whichever school/city would work best for her career. My career as an Accountant allows me to have some flexibility in where I work because there seems to be a need for my work everywhere! San Francisco has been a great experience so far with Samantha and for my career. I have worked at a non-profit chartered school district called Aspire Public Schools since we moved up here and they really like me here!

My teeth are obviously going to be taken care of! Samantha’s skills as a Dentist are growing so rapidly at the moment as she has taken of the task of working every day in clinic treating patients. I have had to opportunity to visit her on two occasions for check-ups and they were wonderful. She is very thorough in her analysis of not only my teeth by my health has a whole. She is very gentle and makes you feel comfortable and helps you understand what exactly she is doing when she is examining you. I think this is what makes a good Dentist, someone who cares also for your well-being and makes you feel comfortable. I know she will take care of me for years to come and will also have a positive effect on the many others she will get to treat.

Yummy meals and desserts! Samantha is quite creative when it comes to making a dinner for us or an exquisite dessert. She knows how to take a recipe and make it work even if we don’t have the exact ingredients needed. I am consistently satisfied with the meals she has put together and I only wish she had more time to put together more! Samantha is also able put together one mean dessert. One of my favorites has to be her crêpes! They are so delicious with Nutella.

Great Photographs and Art. As many of you blog readers know, Samantha has knack for taking a great photo or creating art projects. This is one area where we would be lost if it were me making the decisions. I have very little creativity when it comes to creating a work of art and I do not have skills in photography. If you know us well, you know Samantha will rarely allow me to take a picture of us or anything! Back to Samantha…she is able to provide us with great tangible memories we will be able to have forever. Whether it is one of the many scrapbooks she creates or the wall art using our cards, they all are so fun to look at from time to time and will be there whenever we want to remember a special occasion. I am especially thankful for this pleasure she brings to our lives because I know it is not something that comes easy.

Well thanks for reading and I’ll catch you next time, Paul. 

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The truth about pregnancy brain

Today, I am 33 weeks pregnant! Wee! I have another OB appointment this afternoon so I hope everything is still happy and healthy in there.

Before I got pregnant, I had heard about pregnancy brain. Mostly, I heard that pregnant woman become forgetful and scatter-brained. Well I am here to tell you the truth about pregnancy brain - it is so much more than forgetting where your keys are.

I liken pregnancy brain to not having full control over your own mind. I find it rather frustrating because I have always relied on my intelligence, rationality, and analytical capacity to get me through the day. For me, pregnancy brain is not just about being forgetful but it includes emotional outbursts and being easily distracted {as well as many more pleasant symptoms}.

This is my “don’t provoke the beast” face. 

WHERE THE BLEEP IS MY CELL PHONE? As I am holding my phone, I frantically search for it. And I cannot remember if I brushed my teeth five minutes ago. 

WHY IS EVERYONE ESPECIALLY ANNOYING TODAY? Sometimes I need a three-foot perimeter where you should not enter unless you want your eyes scratched out. Stop humming. Your perfume smells. Stop touching my belly.

HYSTERICAL CRYING. The ugly, snot-filled crying over anything from an insurance commercial to running out of yogurt to not being able to get comfortable. 

WHAT WAS I DOING AGAIN? I enter a room and cannot remember why I am there and my thoughts trail off mid-conversation.

I NEED TO BUY EVERYTHING BABY-RELATED, LIKE YESTERDAY. I have become obsessed with checking the registry, putting together furniture, and making sure our apartment is ready for baby. Yes, I obviously need a baby wipe warmer, why are you asking me that?

WAS THAT A CONTRACTION?! Every little symptom or hiccup and I think I’m going into pre-term labor, ugh. 

So yes, pregnancy brain is very real. And apparently, I have mommy brain to look forward to in less than two months.

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Life 365 | Week 9

Today I’m sharing week 9 of Life 365. Last week was really busy and this week is also looking quite busy as well. I’m trying to get a lot done before we welcome in the little one. We still have so much to do!

24 :: My mom sent me the baby shower invitation! We are doing a Harry Potter theme, too cute. 

25 :: There is something about having fresh flowers in the apartment and Trader Joe’s always has a great selection.

26 :: If you haven’t tried it yet, drizzle some agave nectar on plain greek yogurt. You will NOT be disappointed. 

27 :: This belly is getting HUGE. I feel like a watermelon.

28 :: My friend Grace and her husband took us to an adorable seafood restaurant and bar for happy hour. We had a great view of the bay and it was a lovely way to end the busy week. 

1 :: On Saturday, Paul and I made it out to Panera for a lunch date. It was the perfect gloomy day for soup and a sandwich. 

2 :: I had a craving for pie and ice cream. You can’t deny a pregnant lady when the cravings strike.

I’m linking up with Brittney over at Teaberry Trails. Have a great week!

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