SPRING BREAK!!

Happy Spring Break to me! In about 1 hour, I will officially be on spring break. I don't know if I've ever been this excited! After this weekend, my mom is coming to be with me for a night and then take me back to my parent's house for the rest of the week. I have not had a chance to be home for longer than a couple of days since before I was married. It will be so nice to relax, and have a chance to do more things. Brian will meet us there later in the week in time for our first shower! I can't wait! I'll have exciting pictures then to post! Happy Spring Break to all of you teachers!

Visitors!

This weekend was great because 2 of my best friends braved the MI blizzard to drive down for a visit. After their 3 hour drive turned into 5, they finally made it safe and sound. It was so fun to have them here with me, to catch up, and to spend time together. I've heard people say that you will find your lifelong friends in college and I really feel that I did. There's something so unique that you gain when you live with people each day, and you have so much history together. Even though we've gone our separate ways, and are in different phases of life- there's a depth to our friendships that's irreplacalbe. We had fun shopping around in Indy, laying around our house, and we even bought our first major baby gift. Brian and I successfully managed to put our stroller together. Thanks Grandma Bradford and Lisa for our stroller and car seat! Thanks Em and Trav for coming to see me in the great state of IN!!!

Operation Baby!

Ok, so somedays I'm able to log-on and somedays I can't. Blogger, give me a break! So yesterday at my doctor's appointment, I was told that now I have to come every 2 weeks. A little of reality set in. We are so not ready yet!!!! Baby's room is currently bright purple which is housing all of our office stuff and a little bit of junk. I realize that yes, we do have time, but the planner in me is having a slight panic attack! So, I ordered a piece of the bedding I registered for, so that I could use it to find a paint color. Once that arrives we can paint and then we have to find another home for the computer and get a desk, and then we have to get baby's furniture and stuff. I know the time will start to fly by and it will all be fine. But does anyone else remember feeling this panic!! I just want everything to be ready and perfect!

Hope Reunion 2007

This weekend was so wonderful! Brian and I went to Chicago to reunite with all of my best friends from college. My best friend flew in from Seattle, others came from MI, and us from IN. Otherwise, everyone is pretty much located in Chicago. We had a great time being in the city, being low key and just hanging out! We have managed to reunite at least once a year since we've graduated. Each time we are together, it's like we never left. It's so fun to see where everyone is at in life. Here's the formula of our group:
2 married couples
1 pregnant couple
1 engaged couple
1 dating couple
2 dating others outside of the group
7 guys sharing a house in Chi-town
and plenty of odd jobs to share!
I love you all!!!

Winter Wonderland!

Brian and I decided to play like kids in the snow. He officially made his first snow angel! I couldn't believe he had never done such a thing. We were very disappointed it wasn't packing snow, because we had a snowman in our minds. That's ok, we sat on our front porch and swung on our swing. Yes it was 4 degrees. That's ok! There's nothing better than a winter with snow!

You raise me up...

Yes, a familiar lyric from a Josh Grobin song. But more importantly, that pharse reminds me of my parents. Maybe it's because parenthood is so near, and I think ahead about everything, and of course, it all leads back to my parents. The way they raised me, what they've instilled in me, how they disciplined me. And yes, how they dealt with me and all my moods, and my teenage attitudes, and all of my phases. As each year goes by, I come to love an appreciate my parents more and more. Yes, I get teary eyed even thinking about it. I do believe that I have the most amazing parents! Do I know how they did it? No. Is there a perfect formula for parenting? No. But wow! They succeeded with flying colors whether they realized it or not. And now, I can look back and appreciate them more. As our relationship has evolved over the years, and as our friendships have grown, I cherish them as some of my closest friends. Brian always gives me a hard time for how attached I am. But I always come back, with "it's ok, it's a good thing." And it is. Just because I miss them, or want to talk to them all the time, and want to see them- it isn't bad!!! I just cherish our time together and want to soak it all up, the times that we have and the memories we share. So thanks mom and dad, for being so wonderful, for being so discerning, compassionate, loving, affectionate, Godly, goofy, and for having me!! You are precious in His sight and I love you very much!

Heart notes...

I got a phone call last week, from a girl that actually introduced Brian and I. She was a high school girl that I was working with through Young Life. Very soon after I met her, I realized she was a mini-me. Same personality, same family, same sense of humor, same likes/dislikes. Amazing. This escaladed into a great mentor/mentee relationship. This year she is a freshman at Hope College, my alma mater. I really wanted her to go there and she fell in love with it instantly- just like I did. I did have some worries for her, as I knew what my temptations were when I was there. And it's a Christian college, yet it allows a lot more freedom than other schools. So being a strong Christian is really something you have to work at, amongst a lot of students, who may not even believe in God, or are not following him closely. Last week she called, and it had been a few months since I'd heard from her. As we talked, a story unfolded about her life in college and how she had strayed away, and unfortunately how after one crazy night, she woke up in the hospital. She recalled to me her memories from the event, pieced together with what other people had told her. She was nearly dead. My heart broke as I pictured her in that state, pictured her parents seeing her that way, her little brother trying to make sense of it all. By the end of our conversation, and after feeling a great sense of grief, and even guilt that I couldn't have helped her. She talked to me about something I had said in my testimony, nearly 3 years ago to her about my relationship with God and how I really got it in college. I was encouraged that she remembered so vividly what I told her, and sincerely felt that she was willing to change. Since then, she has really made some steps in the right direction, and I've been praying for her daily to fight temptation, and for real Christian people to come around and encourage her in her walk with Him. She has really been on my mind a lot, and this whole situation and it's made me realize two things:

1. The feeling of helplessness came over me as we talked. Feeling like I should have done more, or that I wanted to do more. I wanted to change things for her, to put her on the right track. I also thought of her parents, as I know them well and what they must feel. Especially as a Christian parent, you invest so much into your child and then to visit them in the hospital must have been the worst thing for them. I was faced with the question of what do you do when you feel helpless? I was quickly reminded as I read through some old journal entries at how big God is. And just maybe those times when we feel helpless, we're supposed to, because we can't play God. He is so much bigger than us, and in those times of helplessness, he wants us to turn to him and cast than upon him, so he can be God. I rejoice in that and love to be reminded at how small I am and how much I need God.

2. I was also thinking about God's will. God's will is a concept that always gets foggy or misconstrued in my head, but I often wonder why certain things happen to certain people. Especially great people. Sometimes I assume, well, that must be God's will for them. But I think that's wrong. I forget about free will. We make choices in our lives, hundreds of them a day. And yes, God is there, and we can consult Him. And yes I believe we can truly follow his will. But a lot of what life brings our way is because of our choices. Not because that was God's will for that bad thing to happen to us. But the key is that God is there with us and can work through any situation. I don't know if that makes sense, but it does to me. It's also a good reminder to evaluate the decisions we make, and to keep God in the forefront of our minds when wondering what his will is for us.

Those are just some heart notes that have been on my mind- and it always helps me to write!

A new look

We moved into our house in October. Since then, the smallest room has been painted- the bathroom. I have had paint sitting around not being used. So finally we motivated ourselves this weekend to get to work! The paint I had chosen for our living room, did not look so good on the walls. So we traveled to Home Depot and mulled over paint colors. We had to laugh at ourselves and our lack of experience. So finally we chose a color and figured we could not go back once we chose it. We got home and thought it was too dark, but it was too late! But actually we love it. It all turned out alright after all. All we have to do is the trim and baseboards, and door frames. It feels a lot more homey and we finally were able to hang some things on the walls. For some reason I can't post before and after, but here's the after!

The verdict!!!

Here she is! Her first pictoral debut!!

The sex saga...

And yes, I mean the sex of the baby! People, come on! Well, Brian and I really want to find out the sex of the baby. Some people don't and that's remarkable, but we are so anxious to know and to start planning. So Friday we went to our doctor's appt. and he got called out to do a delivery, so disappointed and frowning, we left, had to call our family and friends, and respond to e-mails that no-we have to go back on Monday. So tomorrow I made it through the day and we walked excitedly into the office, waited for the doctor and he tells us that we're going to schedule an ultrasound. Well, both Brian and I were confused, and apparently there was so miscommunication about that- and we learned to ask more questions, because we've never been through this before. So with a little begging, our wonderful doctor gave us a freebee and did one for us. It was amazing to see our little baby moving around and so tiny, but of course did not cooperate for mom and dad and kept it's little legs crossed, so we could not see. So tomorrow evening we go for our official one and hopefully I'll be able to report boy or girl!! The suspense is building and I can hardly take it!! So the big question is...football player...or....cheerleader!!

Destination=

Frankenmuth, MI!!!! Ok, so a few weeks ago, Brian asked me not to buy any Christmas decorations. I said ok like a good wife and thought aw man! Because I love buying Christmas things. It's a good thing there aren't as many stores around here for me to shop at! So we left for our trip and ended up in Flint. I was guessing the whole way there- and couldn't figure it out. Then I was wondering, why in the world are we in Flint!! (not the greatest of all destinations!) Then I figured out we were visiting one of my best friends and her husband! It was a wonderful surprise and we were able to have dinner with them, at one of our favorite restaurants- Mongolian Barbeque. Then we left and entered the most magical town, Frankenmuth. I had never been there, but Brian knowing I'm a Christmas fanatic thought it would be a great spot. He is so thoughtful! He even tried to get us Oprah tickets before this idea, which I thought was so sweet! Since I would have loved that! So anyways, we stayed at a great hotel, shopped a ton, got a couples massage, ate at some local places, and at our favorite pizza place, we spent lots of money! All in all it was very special. And on our actual anniversary yesterday, we enjoyed some downtime, since Sunday's are usually our busiest, but we didn't have 747, so we relaxed, ordered pizza, watched our wedding video, and yes I even put on my dress for kicks! Even with a little belly, it fit like a glove! Here are some pics from our trip. We even got to meet Santa. Here's to another wonderful year of marriage!

I'm off!

This afternoon, I leave for my surprise Anniversary getaway! We are leaving today obviously, because we have to be back for Sunday. I know nothing about where we are going, or what we are doing. How fun is that?!! I am just praying that I feel well and can enjoy time away. It will be so nice, especially for Brian having graded a ton of exams and papers this week, and after today he can leave it all behind! I'll post about our trip when we get back!!!!

I hope that one day I'll look back and...

Laugh! So most of you know that I've struggled these past couple months with the morning sickness. I am now in my 15 week, and thought that it would have gone away by now! I had a few good days last week, which I was so excited about, but then all of a sudden- boom- it came back!! It's extremely frustrating, because I'm loosing weight which is not good. My doctor gave me some medicine, which I took last week and knocked me out for about a day and a half- not good when you have to teach. So last night when I had about had it, I took half of a pill- within 10 minutes, I was a zombie again! And we had people over, but I felt like I was sleep walking- it did help me sleep better, since that hasn't been going well either, but as I sit here at my desk with eyes heavy, feeling lethargic- I just don't know what to do. Surely soooooooo many people have dealt with it, and I'm so thankful that it isn't worse, and that as far as I know there have been no complications, but I long for the day when I have a healthy appetitie again, when I can eat normally, when I have energy, when I can sleep more than 5 hours a night. Maybe those days are gone! But I'm sure one day I'll look back and barely remember the zombie days, hopefully I'll laugh!

2nd Trimester

Well here we are into the 2nd trimester. Still trying to shake the nausea, but I think I'm on the brink of a breakthrough! I also got my haircut, which was a very big step for me, especially since my husband almost forbid it. But I think he's happy with it!