Hello 2012.

Thanks for bearing with me on my little blog break.  I actually didn't know what last week would bring me. I thought maybe, just maybe, I wouldn't be too busy and would have time to get on here and say hello, but as it usually is when we're traveling, our time is not our own.  I really can't complain, it was wonderful and I'll update you on that later :)

For now, I turn to 2012.  Holy cow where did 2011 go?  This year consisted of a lot of new things for us, and I have a feeling that 2012 is not going to be much different.  But to be honest with you, I'm a little scared.  There's a lot of decisions that need to be made and changes that are going to be coming up, and when I sit down and think about it all, it's overwhelming.  We knew these decisions would be coming, but it was always "in the future."  Turns out the future is here.

With that being said, we feel really blessed.  God has brought us here, and He will lead us to where He wants us in 2012.  Although I'm scared, I'm a little bit excited, too.  Today I was reading a blog that will probably soon be one of my favorites, and she quoted A. W. Tozer:

“God is looking for people through whom He can do the impossible. What a pity when we plan only the things we can do by ourselves.” -A.W. Tozer

I hear things like that and say "Yes, Lord, that is exactly what I desire.  To look back and see you all over the path we took- to look back and see exactly where you showed up because Dan and I couldn't do it on our own," but when push comes to shove can I actually take a step of faith like that?  I sure hope so.

So, here's to 2012, and here's a look back at all of the blessings we experienced in 2011 :)

Snowpocalypse 2011

Girls trip to Indy

Jon got his MBA!

We made a big announcement!

Jon (my bro!) and Holly got married!

We said goodbye to Pap

We did our first DIY project

We conquered the impossible at Brittany and Luke's lakehouse

We went on a vacation to FL

Went on our first hot air balloon ride

Went to Nashville for the first time and saw Michael W. Smith live

Spent 4th of July with the Fam in Ohio

Watched Beth's last college softball game

Went to lots of weddings!

Officially entered baby season

Went apple picking!

Visited Dan's parents in Texas and saw where Beth worked!

Continued to explore Chicago

We moved from our first apartment in downtown Arlington Heights!

Happy New Year!

Post Christmas

Christmas is officially over.  The rush of the holidays are gone.  Winter isn't so magical anymore- the perfect stark whiteness of the first snow is now dirty and has turned into something that frustrates us while we're driving. The lights and decorations are taken down. We are cold. And so we wait for spring.

This is the time of the year that I can get sad.

If you're ever like me and struggle with the day after Christmas, check out this quick post regarding post Christmas melancholy.

via

Christmas Decorating

Something that I have wrestled with throughout my Christian walk is how to handle desires to do things that seem trivial- such as make up, hair, decorating, etc.  I think a reason why I struggle with this is because our world has taken these God given desires and blown them way out of proportion.  

We spend thousands of dollars decorating our homes, and that passion easily has become an idol.  Everything has to be perfect at all times.  We have to get a new dresser.  I need a new T.V.  We have magazines that are dedicated solely to decorating our homes and showcasing how beautiful they are and because of this, our simple desires to create a haven for your family becomes a necessity or even worse, a competition.  This can just as easily happen with fashion, fitness, make up, hair, etc.  Our world has taken the desires that we were given, which were never meant to become obsessions, and made them the main focus, not God who gave us those desires.

This past week I stumbled upon this quote regarding decorating, in particular for Christmas, and I felt it really summed up the issue at hand well.  Keeping Christ the main focus, as with anything we do, is what will keep these desires in check as we live in a world that tells us otherwise.  It affirmed the desires that I have, but it also pointed me to Creator of those desires, and Who we need to glorify in the process. 

I'm not sure if you've ever had these thoughts, but if you had I hope this encourages you :)

Edith Shaeffer says in the Art of Homemaking:

“If you have been afraid that your love of beautiful flowers and the flickering flame of the candle is somehow less spiritual than living in starkness and ugliness, remember that He who created you to be creative gave you the things with which to make beauty and gave you the sensitivity to appreciate and respond to his creation. Creativity is his gift to you and the ‘raw materials’ to be put together in various ways are His gift to you as well.”

I love that we can reflect the image of our Creator when we create.

 

Link Love

Here are some fun things I have found around the web recently :) ps. Christmas is almost here!

Most powerful images of the year- I remember snowpocalypse all too clearly.

I love the holiday gift tracking guide here.  VERY helpful on a budget.

Hello Christmas guide. 

How adorable is this?

Such a cute idea to do with a family around Christmas!  Maybe we'll try it next year :)

This story was so inspirational to me personally, as someone who struggled with this.  There are SO many men and women who struggle with this and I am thankful that people are bringing it to light.

If these peppermint mocha cupcakes won't get you in the mood for Christmas- I don't know what will!

 Merry (almost) Christmas!

Weekend updates

Sorry these updates are coming a little bit later than expected!  We have been busy catching up with friends, getting last minute shopping done, and running errands since we got home from Indiana this past weekend!

First, my Friday night started off attending a Matthew West and Mandisa concert.  It. was. amazing.  I cried, I laughed, I sang carols, we worshiped. So great.  I'm not sure if you remember our trip to Nashville this past summer, but while we were standing in line at Michael W. Smith's farm to ride the hot air balloon, Matthew West decided to stop by and his wife and two adorable girls were hanging out like ten feet from us.  I felt like it was kind of a big deal.  Anyway, we saw him perform then, but this was the first time he did an actual concert and it was great. 

Then we got up early and Dan dropped me off in Marion, IN.  Why you ask?  Well, aside from the fact it is in the middle of nowhere, Indiana Wesleyan is also there and that's where my brother got his MBA!  Since Dan's friends were in Indianapolis, he dropped me off and headed to spend the night there, and I hung out with my family and then stayed with Jon and Holly.  They were such great hosts- we had french toast, watched Christmas Vacation, ate some amazing rolls from Texas Road House, and played with their cats :)

Here are some fun pictures we took!

At the concert

I tried my best to get a close up!

Our graduate!

Jon and one of his classmates

Jon and Holly

My fam

Trying to get a picture that shows off my growing belly lol.. didnt' work too much

The classic shot

Christmas at our Apartment

Dan and I feel so proud: last Friday we finally put up our Christmas decorations.  It's kind of a big deal around here- better late than never, right? 

Here are some fun things we use to decorate our apartment.  Please note that I have not purchased any Christmas decorations since we got married, but Dan gets me one ornament every year as a gift.  It's been so fun looking back on all of the 4 Christmas' we've been married!  Some day we'll start to decorate with more than just stuffed animals lol

This year's ornament :)

Our first year!

Last year's! We had to hand write the year on it lol- can you tell!?

Our little tree

Our Christmas card picture!

Favorite Christmas Song

Seeing as Christmas is less than week away, I decided to start to get into the spirit of the season :)  Honestly, it's hard for me to focus on anything Christmas related the week before or during finals.  Now that it's over, I feel we can finally enjoy it :) 

Sooo, I wanted to share with you my favorite Christmas songs this year.  First, is my favorite "old" Christmas song- by that mean I've been listening to it for the past 5 years or so.  Definitely the first one I listened to back in late October :)

This is my new favorite Christmas song.  My church recorded it and actually just started listening to it a couple weeks ago. I love finding new Christmas songs :)

The Earth Stood Still from Harvest Bible Chapel on Vimeo.

Hope you had a great weekend!

16 weeks

Ok, this has officially been baby week. But, guess what? I'm officially caught up! Technically I'm 17 weeks today, but last weekend we took our 16 week pictures and some Christmas pictures (I'm REALLY hoping we get our Christmas cards out on time...).

I realized I haven't shared too much about the actual pregnancy- and really, there isn't too much to say.  At times I was worried there was nothing in there simply because I felt SO normal.  But, I now see how much of a blessing it was.   Other than some pretty intense food cravings the first 13 weeks, that's about all I felt! (I can definitely see how you can easily gain 40+ pounds- add on pregnancy cravings plus the freedom to increase your caloric intake by 300 calories?! That combo can be dangerous)  I didn't even really crave anything in particular, it's just when I craved something, I wanted it right then.  For instance, we were in the store and I saw sour gummy worms.  I told Dan I needed to get those- like right that second.  He just smiled and said ok, but it literally took everything in me not to rip open the package before we checked out.  Other than that, I have been SO incredibly blessed.  I know lots of people (including some friends right now) who can't get out of bed they are so sick, or even a couple who had to go to the hospital.  They are already making HUGE motherly sacrifices for their baby!

Because of that (and other reasons), Dan thinks that we're having a boy.  As for me, I honestly don't know!  I don't even have a hunch (does that make me a bad mother already?!).  Our heart beat was low at first, which made me think boy (according to some sources) but then it shot up at our second appointment, so I honestly have no clue.  And, we've decided not to find out!  Even though it will take a lot of will power at our next appointment, 20 weeks (when you can find out the gender), we really are excited for it to be a surprise!  Also, some other factors affected our decision to wait.  First, we will still be in our one bedroom apartment until next September-so you do the math- baby born around May = no nursery for this baby until we move!  Also, since I'll be graduating from Trinity with my Masters at the beginning of May, I won't have much time to spend preparing cute things for his/ her arrival.  So, we decided to wait, and I'm actually kind of excited that we are!

Ok, enough chatting.  Here is the 16 week picture, and a sneak preview of one of the pictures we took for our Christmas card (it's not the one we're using, though!)

Have a wonderful weekend!

11 Weeks

Whew. Almost caught up!  Sorry to overwhelm you with pregnancy updates- I promise from now on I will write about other things than just babies after I'm done catching you up! 

My next appointment was 11 weeks.  This was memorable because while my fears had gone down quite a bit, I was still a little anxious to hear the little heartbeat.  Dan couldn't make it because of work, so  I headed in alone- it was actually on my birthday!  The doctor came in, asked me the usual questions, and then started listening for the heart beat.  He said sometimes they can't find it, but he assured me that because I was "so skinny" (ha, thanks for the compliment!) that he wouldn't have a problem.  Well, after a minute, which seemed to last much longer, he said they would have to do an ultrasound because he couldn't find it. 

They sent me back out in the waiting room and I immediately texted Dan to pray.  I knew deep down inside either way it was going to be all right.  Honestly, I had prayed so much about this baby, and came to the realization that if I didn't deal with my "worry issues" now, I would never deal with it.  I'm sure once I have the baby, a whole new set of fears is going to pop up.  So, after much prayer and time with God, I was slowly able to give God control of my pregnancy and fears.  He formed this child and knew the day His child ultimately would come home.  Now I know why all those "mom devotionals" are about worrying- I feel like this will be something I will be working on for a long time :)  I can't say my fears never come up anymore, but it's gotten better. Progress, right?

Anyway, back to the doctors appointment.  They call me back into the ultrasound room and I had the same technician from before.  She was so sweet and said that she was positive that the baby was just too small and that she would find it.  For some reason I was expecting to see a blob like our last appointment, but what popped up on the screen was an actual 3 inch baby! I could make out a head, body, and arm, and when she pressed on my stomach the baby moved its arm over its head! I was so happy! It was actually a blessing in disguise that they didn't hear the heartbeat because I was able to take home more pictures!  So, the next week we took our 12 week pictures.

I actually think I'm getting pretty "big" here lol

It's an actual baby!

Yay!

I have no idea what we were actually doing here, but Dan looked really funny so I had to put it up

We took this picture at Thanksgiving after we showed my grandma :) Here we are 14 weeks!