The Road Less Traveled

Cyber Tag Anyone?

2008-02-07T15:25:00.000-05:00

Yay! I was cyber tagged by Becky (thanks!)! I am so excited to be included in this. It's a first. Here's the directions - Share five random and/or weird facts about yourself and then share the five top places on your “want to see or want to see again” list, finally tag five people at the end.

1. Upon coming to seminary I shut myself off to making new friendships. I saw it as a temporary thing and then we got to go home (or wherever). That was stupid! So now I kick myself because we're about to graduate and I still don't REALLY know people.

2. When I was 11 I danced on stage in Nashville at Fan Fair for The Moffatts doing the Caterpillar Crawl. Yeah, I was big stuff.

3. I do what Phillip calls climate control. At bedtime when I'm all covered up, I put one leg on top of the covers not covered up. It keeps me from getting too hot while sleeping and if it gets cold I just cover it right back up. Pretty ingenious if you ask me!

4. I danced for 16 years. Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Modern, you name it. I lived breathed and ate dance. I taught, took lessons, competed, and even went to a Fame-esque high school where my major was.. yep, dance. (Not weird or random, just little known)

5. I have never sneaked out a window. My parents gave us freedom with limits and I never felt the need to sneak out. If I had ever wanted to I would have just gone out the door. They slept pretty soundly. But I've never gone out the door in the middle of the night either. Right before I got married, I climbed out my window just to say I had and the n I walked back in the front door.

Places to go:
1. Puerto Vallarta Mexico- want to go back! It was our honeymoon spot!
2. Cancun Mexico- want to go back. It is the most awesome beach I've ever seen.
3. New Zealand - After LOTR I really want to see it, looks pretty.
4. London - I don't care if it rains, I want to see the sights!
5. I would love to travel Rome, Greece, Patmos, Jerusalem (all of the Bible places) just to have a good understanding of what I read about.

So there you go. I tag Ginger, Shaunna, AK, Erin, and Stacey.

Have fun!

How Old Are You..

2008-01-31T09:28:00.000-05:00

When you blog about weather? I don't care, we have been experiencing some weird weather here in the StL. Two days ago we had an amazing day. It got up to 73 degrees by lunch time and it was gorgeous. Then around 2:30 the temperature dropped and it STARTED SNOWING!!! How does that happen? The temp dropped 40 degrees in about 30 minutes. It got down to 4 degrees overnight. So from about 1:30 in the afternoon to about 4 in the morning it dropped 70 whole degrees. It was the weirdest thing I've ever seen in my life. Totally worth blogging about I think. That same night we lost power. It was off for about an hour and it came back on. For all of 5 minutes! Then it was gone again. We went out to eat and by the time we got home the lights were back on. Yay for not having to pile a baby, 2 parents, and a dog in the same bed! Anyway, I hope your Thursday morning is going well. It's almost Friday!

Yummy Goodness

2008-01-17T14:15:00.000-05:00

Day 3 of sequential blogging. I may be getting better at this! Anyway today I had Noodles and Company for lunch oh my goodness ya'll, sooo good! I discovered it while with child. Get the Wisconsin Mac and Cheese with Parmesan Chicken mmmmmm! It is probably THE WORST thing on the menu to get but totally worth it. They also have a cucumber and tomato salad. Awesome! Anyway, thought I'd share!

Birth Announcement

2008-01-16T22:44:00.000-05:00

Here is the birth announcement. I worked with Jamie at Wee Little Designs and I loved the results. She is awesome to work with and has lots of creative ideas. Thanks Jamie! You can also check out her blog here.

We Turned 4!

2008-01-14T09:17:00.000-05:00

Well, life has been great so far. Miss Adeline is still an easy baby and very good natured. She is finally gaining weight. It took going to a GI doctor to get her there but we are on the right track. Right before Christmas we took her in to her pediatrician just to be weighed and she hadn't gained much. The doctor was concerned and sent us to the GI the next day, delaying our trip home a day. The GI sent us to do a sweat test for Cystic Fibrosis. It came back negative. This was the 3rd time a screening was done. I had a test done when I was pregnant, Adeline had one in the hospital as part of a newborn screening, and then this one. They were all negative. The GI had us start adding extra formula to what we were already giving her. Leaving the amount the same but, adding extra powder. This increased her calories per serving and did the trick. We went back exactly 2 weeks later and Adeline had gained 2 1/2 pounds! She has continued to gain and she goes Saturday for her 3 month check-up. I am anxious to see how much she weighs now! The child has rolls on her legs!

We celebrated 4 years on December 13th. We had someone watch Adeline for the first time and we went to dinner at The Melting Pot. It was amazing! Neither of us had ever been before and we are both wanting to go back again! While we were eating, Phillip told me that he has been accepted into the ThM program! So he is starting to take classes this semester to get a head start. Also, he told me what he got me for our anniversary because it hadn't been delivered yet! He got me cashmere! Gloves and a hat to go with the new coat he got me for my birthday! Then during dessert, he gave me an envelope. When I opened it there was a piece of paper folded in half that said "Open for your surprise...", when I opened it there was a picture of the Nashville skyline. He gave me Nashville! We're going home!!!! He is able to do his ThM distance so we get to be home and still have him be in school! I cried right there at the table. I was so excited. Totally unexpected but totally accepted!

That's all for now. We seriously don't have anything going on worth blogging about. I don't want to bore you! Until next time....

Sorry Ya'll!

2007-11-12T17:44:00.000-05:00

So, it's been over 2 months since I posted last. I am so completely bad at this. Baby shower #2 was great. I got to see lots of family, you know the kind you only see once a year if you're lucky. I was given 2 special things at this shower: Phillip's baby blanket and a dress that was mine that will fit the baby at the same time I wore it. We went to the Alabama/ Vandy football game and had AMAZING seats. We had given Phillip's grandfather tickets MONTHS before for his birthday and we finally got to go. They won which was great. It was really humid and I was 9 months pregnant at this point so when it started raining I was a pretty happy girl. It was awesome! Not much has happened since then except..... we welcomed Katherine Adeline into this big bad world on October 20th (I have to brag that this was her due date) at 1:23 pm. She weighed in at 7 pounds, 7 ounces and was 21 inches long. God was so good to us through the whole thing. My dad got to the hospital literally minutes before I was able to start pushing, the rest of the family was already there and patiently (and eagerly) waiting for her arrival. Once I started pushing we lost her heartbeat, which was pretty scary. Phillip said they had the tools out ready to do a c- section (I'm so glad they didn't!). This happened every time after that when I pushed. After about 8 minutes of pushing, with the help of forceps, she arrived safely with her cord wrapped around her precious little neck. But she is happy and healthy and as the nurses put it, "darn near perfect". The funny part about the whole delivery is that my brother in law, Mark, was at the Alabama/ Tennessee game and was text messaging score updates. Phillip had predicted a few weeks before that she would be born at halftime so not long into halftime, she arrived! I married a prophet (ha ha).

We have now had miss Adeline in our lives for 4 weeks and can't remember life without her. She is amazing and makes us unbelievably happy. She sleeps all night (8 hours) and has been since about the 2nd week. We are truly blessed to be getting sleep! And I have finally figured out how to post pictures so I will leave you with these:

Baby Shower #1

2007-09-04T12:16:00.000-05:00

Well, my time being pregnant is winding up. This past weekend we went home to Nashville for a baby shower. This one was given by my sweet mother in law. She put lots of hard work and thought into this day and it totally showed. It was awesome! There were so many special things: the table centerpiece was made by Phillip's aunt with some flowers from her yard and the container they were in had one of my baby pictures in it, she had put a framed picture of me in the entry with ribbon and a decoration from her baby shower with Phillip, and she had a small ceramic cradle someone had given her with Phillip and it had dried flowers in it from our wedding. So much meaning. We had a really good turn out, more than expected, and ended up with so much stuff! I was just excited to see so many people that I love all in one place!

We also celebrated Mark's birthday. It was great to see him. We don't see him often with us up here and him away at college and working in Georgia. But it was great! We're going back this weekend for my last trip. We have lots of stuff planned, so I'll have more to write about.

To Live is Christ

2007-08-12T17:00:00.000-05:00

My sweet, amazing, God fearing and loving husband preached on this today. Very convicting. He spoke about the things that define us and how they change. Like right now, the baby defines him. He thinks about her and what life will be like with her all of the time. Paul says, "To live is Christ and to die is gain". Christ defines Paul. Whoa. Does Christ define me? That was a hard pill to swallow. How I desire for Christ to define me. Phillip asked the residents at the nursing home where he was preaching if they are afraid to die. Most of them said no but I suspect that they are a little afraid. I realized that I am not. I am afraid of how I might die but I am not afraid of dying and it is because Christ is on the other side of death. So it seems that i have the last part of the verse down but the first got me. He also talked about how we can't desire Christ and what's to come if we haven't tasted Him. "Taste and see that the Lord is good". We cannot desire what we have not tasted. He pointed out that Paul is living out the 2 greatest commandments: 1) Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength and 2) Love your neighbor as yourself. He is living for Christ and desiring to be with Him and he is living because he loves his neighbors. Paul got it. He loved Christ with all that he had and Christ defined him. John Piper's spin on this verse is, "To live is Christ and to die is more Christ". Love it. If Christ is what you desire and what defines you then you lose nothing in death. "O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory?"

I'll leave you with this question: What defines you?

Update

2007-08-12T16:39:00.000-05:00

It's been awhile. We are still alive. Nothing major has happened. We did move to a much bigger space two weeks ago. This weekend, Phillip's parents were here. We painted the nursery (we have one!!) and they brought the crib up and helped assemble it. It's very strange to walk into that room now and see paint and a crib and changing table. A baby will be living there soon. 9 weeks soon. We are now down to single numbered weeks. We started at 40 and now we are facing 9 weeks until my due date. I have a sneaking suspicion that I'll go early. I really don't think she's going to wait 9 more weeks. Weird. Exciting. I am so ready! It's in the 100s here. Very hot. Not very comfortable. At all. But pregnancy is still awesome. Sickness and stretching and extreme fatigue and back pain, still all worth it.

My dad called yesterday and said that my sweet grandmother is in the hospital. She has been there since Wednesday night and still has a few more days. They don't really know what's wrong. At first they said it was a light stroke. Now they're not sure. She is in physical therapy and is walking with a cane. It hurts my heart to imagine her in pain and helpless. Honestly, I am surprised that she has been as independent as she is. My grandfather died in 1997 after they had celebrated 50 years of marriage. I really didn't think she'd make it on her own. She has survived on her own for 10 years. I worry about her a lot. things like who is going to know if something happenes to her. About a month ago, she fell. But she called my aunt and uncle and they got her taken care of. And now this. Living away from home has shown me how old our grandparents are getting. It's hard to see. I think being near them and seeing them a lot before we moved blinded us to this hard fact. I just don't want to be spending their last years a long way away. I'm ready to be home.

My sister has had some drama. I won't go into detail but she is making some bad decisions. I don't know what the deal is or what is influencing her but it needs to go away. She is 18. I want her to make something of her life. But I'm worried that she is heading nowhere. But I have to suport her and love her no matter what she does, if I approve of it or not. She is my sister. Her situations have shown me what we are like outside of Christ. Our sin nature is huge. We cannot do anything worth anything without Him. Sin is ugly and makes us do ugly things.

On a happier note, we have an ultrasound tomorrow. It's an ultrasound that I have looked forward to since I was made aware that these were possible. It's in 4-D. We will be able to physically see her and what she looks like before she actually arrives! I'm so excited! I'm also curious to watch her move around and kick just to see how she is actually laying. I feel her all over, rolling and kicking or punching in different spots. Technology is amazing. I'm so thankful for it. Maybe seeing her will help us decide what in the world to name her......

It's Been Awhile

2007-06-29T09:15:00.000-05:00

Trying to remember what I wrote last time... We did go to the doctor and the Maybaby is in fact a girl! Seems my mother's intuition isn't so bad after all! We (Phillip) started and ended a class in which he got a 98.7! Sold the house! It's kinda sad though, we are no longer homeowners just renters. I have finally grown a little. I am up to 7 pounds total gained in this pregnancy! The little one kicks all day long and I can feel her as she is getting stronger. It's an amazing, thing this growing a baby. It seems we have a daughter that likes her space. She doesn't like anything touching my stomach and when something does touch it, she immediately kicks at it. I have come to realize that getting kicked is no big thing. Who cares if she's playing soccer in there? I just look at it as her letting me know she's there and alive and well.

This last year has just been tumultuous. Lots of crazy things going on in our lives as well as our family's and friends' lives. Some good, some not so good. I have learned through all of this what it means to be married to a minister. I have learned that when it comes to others needing my husband's support and time and love that it is not my place to be selfish and un- supportive. I have my time with him, I just need to spend it wisely. Sometimes that's hard. My sin nature screams at me and it's tough to fight. But God's grace is amazing and He shows me again that His will is greater than mine. Submission. Humble submission. That is indeed an ongoing lesson.

We are nearing the end of this pregnancy. We hit 6 months this week. As eventful as it has been, I must say that time has flown. I have enjoyed it but I am ready for this little one to be here. I feel ready, prepared. I just pray that we can be Godly parents and teachers of His awesome word.

Til next time.

Summertime!

2007-05-24T12:48:00.001-05:00

Well summer is here again! The semester is over, but still waiting on grades. We were made aunt and uncle on May 10th! My sister is a high school graduate as of last night! We went home last weekend and Phillip preached and we are going back this weekend to (FINALLY) meet the nephew. Still don't really have a belly yet, but we are 5 days away from being halfway! We find out on Tuesday what the sex of the baby is (a girl) so that's pretty exciting. Phillip has been working his tail off outside in 90 degree heat to help out. I found the camera so I hope to discover how to start posting pictures on here. We watched close friends graduate from seminary and now we get to watch them move on to what God has planned for them. Exciting and sad all at the same time. We saw a good friend over the past weekend, that we truly miss, and got to catch up a little which was awesome! Now we're ready to see his family (and him again)! That's all for now!

The Past Month, OK a Little Over That

2007-05-03T13:46:00.000-05:00

So in the last month we have been to Nashville twice, sold a car, heard our child's heartbeat, gotten one step closer to closing on our house in Nashville (selling it), been really sick (morning sickness), watched dear friends move far far away, and other various and sundry items.

It's been really busy! Phillip is wrapping up this semester. Exams start soon and then we will be down to one year left here in the STL. Time flies by so quickly. It's very strange, when you're little you are completely unaware of time but then one day you wake up and realize that you have grown up and are experiencing things that you had only witnessed before. We saw some friends last night. Some are graduating and moving on to whatever the Lord has planned for them next and some we will get to have another year with. Wow! There's that time thing again!

I have been learning new things in the Lord. We have been shown so much lately in struggles, personal relationships that have fallen, and just living life together. I have been convicted of so much lately, not of things that I'm doing or thinking but of things that I'm NOT doing or thinking. Like, the question was asked, do you love God enough to forgive others for wronging you? Do I? Why haven't I stopped to realize that if I hold a grudge, I am not showing God's love? I have been forgiven of so much, why can't I look past personality flaws? Things I've been tossing around.

That's all for now. I could go on forever.

Updates

2007-03-26T13:22:00.000-05:00

The last couple of weeks have been busy ones. I ended up with Phillip's cold. It was a bad one but nothing major. I also ended up with the stomach bug that was circulating. Not fun. I have also been struggling with pregnancy headaches. Man are they brutal! Nothing shakes them and I usually end up very sick.

Happy news is that we finally had our first doctor appointment. Phillip was on Spring Break so he got to go! We loved the doctor and are very excited about being under her care. We also found out that I am 11 weeks along tomorrow. My due date is October 20th. She had originally set my due date as October 9th but after the ultrasound (!!) we determined that I was only 10 weeks. Seems that Phillip and I were right on guessing the date. We went in expecting to hear the little heartbeat but got an ultrasound instead. I am not quite far enough along to hear the heartbeat. It seems that we already have a wiggler! It wouldn't stop moving! I may have fun days ahead of me.

Spring is here! I am so excited to be having 80 degree weather and see things grow. We went to the park yesterday and fed the ducks! No babies yet though. Maybe soon.........

So I'm Bad At Blogging

2007-03-13T13:28:00.000-05:00

Well, it's been almost a month since my last post. I keep waiting for something fun and worth writing about happens, but nothing has happened. I finally have an appetite! That's good I guess. When I get ready for the day food wise I have learned that I WAY underestimate my need for food. I am a pro at eating everything I took for the day and my lunch by 10AM. Yesterday, with the taste of grapes still in my mouth, I was starving and made a dash for McDonalds. But my taste for fast food has been completely lost. I got halfway through my double cheeseburger and threw the rest away. It was just nauseating to eat. I guess that's good. Still don't have any cravings, but fruit is always good.

Last week was nuts. I totally neglected my father by not calling him and heard about it yesterday!We had something going on almost every night. Baby shower and going away parties galore! Some of our good friends are leaving us. Seth graduated this past summer from the seminary and has answered the call to be a solo pastor at a church in Vermont. We are happy for them (they answered God's call AND they are going home) but will miss them terribly. Maybe we can take a family trip to Vermont eventually.

Phillip is totally sick. We have no idea what he has but I am positive that I don't want it. I have been trying to convince him to go to the doctor, but it's been an uphill battle. We'll just keep giving him lots of water, vitamin C and good ole Goldenseal. Maybe I'll just drag him to the doctor.............

God's Providence Rocks!

2007-02-17T15:14:00.000-05:00

Spoke to the doctor yesterday. Everything from my last blood test is good. I have now been released to an Ob!

Rewind... Last week, upon finding out we are pregnant, I immediately called my doctor. they had me come in that day (last Thursday) to do a blood test. Got results back the next day,and it was a low positive of pregnancy. This just meant that we were definitely pregnant, but on the brink of miscarriage or just really early. They said that if I wasn't having problems, which I wasn't, they wanted to do another test in a week. So I went back Thursday, got results yesterday and my levels had more than doubled! So, we definitely have a baby!

God's providence has been amazing and present during this short time already. We had been waiting on maternity insurance to kick in (March 20th) to start trying to start a family. Obviously, we got started earlier than planned! I called my insurance company the day after we found out to see what we could do to get them to cover this whole thing since we are only a little over a month away. She first told me congratulations and then let me know that anything I had done before March 20th would not be covered but after March 20th, we were fully covered! I had convinced myself that it would be considered a pre- existing condition and we would just be written off. No dice, God had his hand on it the entire time!

And another... I had been researching Obs and happened upon one I liked so I checked her credentials. Still liked her. Talked to my doctor to see who was on her list of preferred Obs and the one I found was on it! So I called her office to get an appointment. First appointment they had open? March 20th! So my first appointment is March 22nd (to give us a cushion). Woo Hoo! I must say that God rocks! He totally looks out for His sheep. He has been with us and provided for us the entire time we have been here in Saint Louis. It's amazing. He's amazing.

I can't wait to see what happens next. This year is going to be a wild ride I think. Juggling school, work, getting ready for the maybaby, and whatever else pops up! We' ll keep you updated as all of this unravels!

Our World Changes

2007-02-14T12:52:00.000-05:00

This is the first blog of many. We just found out that we're pregnant! WOW! I don't have an official due date yet. It's still too early to know. I am extremely tired, around lunchtime I break down no matter how long I slept the night before. I haven't really been sick. I'm sure that will come. No weird cravings yet either. So far, it's boring. We have already decided that we are not going to find out the sex of the baby or share names we think of. It will just be one big surprise for all!

So in light of the pregnancy, I decided to start a blog to keep everyone informed on the progress and to have a place for us to remember things we did, feelings we had, and pictures we took.

That's all for now. I will try to keep this updated.

Happy Valentine's Day!