Vacation

We arrived at Meggan and Trevor's house last Saturday afternoon. After the grand tour of their beautiful home, we prepared to go out to dinner with friends to celebrate Meggan's birthday.

Sunday was grocery shopping and letting the children run free at the park. The exciting part about Sunday was getting to see Kami. Kami was in my Sunday School class that I taught at the Nazarene Church in Iowa when she was in the 6th grade. I worked with her class until Adam and I got engaged a few years later. We have kept in touch over the years and it has been wonderful to see Kami grow into such a beautiful woman with a big love for Jesus. It was so great to catch up with her!

Monday was super crazy as we packed up and headed to a cabin for the remainder of the week. Meggan and I also drove to Minneapolis to pick up Kimberly and her family. It was so fun to have several hours with Meggan to talk and not have children constantly interrupting. And to be there when Kim and Chris arrived. Here are a few pictures from our time at the cabin.

We had such a fantastic time. We ate. We laughed a lot. We dealt with the craziness of 6 children under 4.  We got zero sleep. But it was all worth it. 

History

This past week I had the joy of spending the week with two of the best people the world has to offer and their wonderful families. My best gal pals, Kim and Meggan.

As we were hanging out I was thinking about what I love about these two ladies and why they are each important to me.

I first met Kim as she was coming out of my room. When she saw me, I gave her a strange look and she took off running to her room. I chased her up to her room questioning her on why she was in my room. After several hours convincing me she was just "looking around" we decided to room together and became fast friends.

Meggan and I were not friends right away. We spent the first semester avoiding one another because of a few misunderstandings. During the summer though, Meggan began to write me and it gave us the opportunity to get past those misunderstandings and really get to know one another. Our friendship took time, but started out on a solid foundation.

The big difference between these two wonderful ladies and all of my other close friends comes down to one thing.

History.

These girls knew me as a single lady. As a freshman. As simply me.

Then, they watched and encouraged me in my relationship with Adam. They were there when we got engaged. And they were beside me when Adam and I got married. They continue to challenge me even now in my relationship with him.

They saw us go from a couple, to a couple with a cat, to a couple with two (almost three) girls.

They are like family to me.

And I hope that they are always in my life.

I look forward to seeing them again soon.

Doctor Who

Several months ago Adam convinced me to watch an episode of Doctor Who that was recommended to him. Not too long after that we were finishing all of the seasons on Netflix.

There are several cheesy episodes. But there are a lot of really really great episodes. The character development is amazing and honestly that is really what pulled me in.

In the 1st season they draw you in with the Doctor and his traveling companion Rose. I don't want to give the story away for those that haven't seen the show, but by the end of first season you can see the love between Rose and the Doctor.

Season 2 introduces David Tennant as the Doctor and wow. Let me just say that he is a fabulous actor. He can say so much without ever saying a word. He simply makes a face and you know exactly what he is thinking. Season 2 ends with me in tears and we will just leave it at that.

During season 3 you get to know Martha Jones. She is strong, brave, and can hold her own. She gives the show a new feel from the companion side of things. While the Doctor still has to save Martha at times, she is perfectly capable of handling things. Where Rose was always the damsel in distress, Martha just seems to be more of a sidekick.

Season 4 is simply incredible. Mostly because David Tennant is amazing. Donna Noble enters the scene as the companion and it is fun to watch her interact with the Doctor as what almost seems to be siblings or a couple that has been married for ages. This season also brings in Riversong and she gives the sense that she and the Doctor have an interesting history.

The 5th season brings in Matt Smith as the Doctor and also brings Amelia Pond into the story. Amelia Pond might be my favorite companion in the 6 seasons. Mostly because she loves the Doctor, but not in the way the others have. She is in love with Rory. And while she loves the adventure that the Doctor brings, she is not in love with him. 

The final season on Netflix is 6. Matt Smith took a little while to get used to as the Doctor, but finally grew on me by the end. I am not sure if he progressively got better or if I just became used to him playing the part finally that I liked him more.

I look forward to seeing season 7 and on.

If you can handle somewhat creepy/occasionally scary and you like watching shows other than the typical crime or police show, then you should try this show. Start with season 3 episode 11 just to give it a try. If you like it, then jump into season 1. Let me know what you think. 

Nutella

This morning after the girls came in for our usual morning cuddles, they quickly disappeared to the kitchen to "help me" get ready for breakfast. Kaylee likes to get the spoons and cereal out.

It takes me a few minutes to roll out of bed, but I noticed that it was unusually quiet in my house which is never a good sign with a 2 and 4 year old.

I called out, "Girls, what are you doing?"

Silence.

"Girls, answer me."

More silence.

I hopped out of bed as quick as my pregnant self can move and walked into the kitchen to see two little chocolate covered faces. Kaylee was holding the open jar of Nutella. 4 little hands were smothered in the chocolate hazelnut spread.

Quickly I handed them wet paper towels to wash up while I put away the morning snack of choice. They threw the paper towels away and I immediately was wishing I had gotten a picture of their faces before they cleaned up. Thankfully, when I turned around, they were still a little messy so I quickly snapped a picture of their naughty little selves.

Enjoy.

Change of Plans

After weeks of packing and preparing to move, the buyer backed out on Friday.

Thankfully, we were busy with Adam's softball tournament and hanging out with friends so I did not have much time to dwell on the disappointment of having to back out of the house we were buying.

Please be praying for us as we endure more showings with the children underfoot and myself being pregnant. It is tiring to constantly have the house clean.

I was hoping this whole process was coming to an end and now we are starting all over again.

Thanks for your prayers.

House Selling Stress

If you follow my blog even just a little bit, you have probably noticed that I have been unusually quiet as of late. It's not that there aren't things to share with you. It is actually opposite of that. There is so much going on here that I have been completely stressed out.

Remember about a month ago when I posted about selling our house?

Well, within 7 days of having it listed, we had a buyer. And with the house selling process comes so much paper work and so much work in general that I have been exhausted. "What? You are coming to my house for the inspection and it could take a couple of hours? Sure! I can find something to do for 2 hours with a 2 and 4 year old. Oh, an appraisal? Another couple of hours on a different day?" *sigh You get my drift. It is a lot. To top it off the buyer's lender keeps switching up the closing date and I am just ready to be done.

Oh did I mention that we are trying to buy another house in the process? And are dealing with the same paper work etc for that house.

It is a lot.

I don't ever want to move again.

Seriously. I am not sure how my parents moved so much when we were growing up. It makes me want to barf any time I think about doing it again or starting over.

So that is where I have been. Stressed out completely.

With the buyer moving the closing date we had to cancel on my brother-in-law, Caleb, and his wife, Lindsey. We were going to go stay with Lindsey's grandma for a weekend at her house. Since we were free all of a sudden this weekend, Caleb asked if we wanted to join them since we couldn't on the original date planned.

Going into it, I had a bad attitude. I pictured everyone else having a good time and me wrangling the kids all weekend because Adam just kept mentioning all of the fishing that he was going to be doing. And since most grandma's houses are full of things they don't want children touching, I pictured myself stressed out even more because I was chasing the girls trying to keep them out of things.

Thankfully, I went.

In spite of my bad attitude.

This grandma's house rocks. And she was so awesome, sweet, and laid back.

Her back porch was huge. AND gated. So, the girls played out there with their toys while we were in the house. And her house was very kid friendly. There really wasn't anything for them to get in to.

See, this is when I look at the timing of events and think that God worked out this timing just for me. He knew I would need to relax. Spend time just being. And not stressing out over all that needs to be done.

Last night I had some time alone. The girls were in bed. Katie and Hannah were both showering. Adam and Caleb were fishing. And Lindsey and her grandma went to pick them up off the river.

So I sat out on the deck over looking the lake. And instead of reading a book or finding something else to do, I simply sat there. And felt God pour over me. "Be still," whispered among the trees. I sang a few choruses and read a couple of passages from my Bible. And had a few minutes to thank the Lord for knowing exactly what I needed. And for providing it in such an unexpected manner.

The moment of alone time ended. But God made himself known the rest of the night. First through a rainbow that arched over the lake and second through the most magnificent sunset.

God is so good to me.

Into the lake

There are times as a parent that I feel the pressure to do something that I don't want to do.

This week I felt that pressure.

We went down to Arkansas for my Nanny's 80th Birthday and while we were down there we stayed with my parents in their camper. We went thinking that at some point we would take the girls swimming, but when Adam had to leave to go back home to get back to work I knew that we most likely would not end up going down to the lake.

Kaylee kept asking to go swimming "with the fish in the lake" and so the parental pressure was on. Let me provide you with a little background. I absolutely hate swimming in lakes in general. The bottom feels disgusting and overall the experience grosses me out.

But since Kaylee really wanted to go, I took her and Elanor down to the lake for a quick swim. And honestly hated every minute of the actual swim which was more of a wade (on painful rocks) with 2 clinging children.

But I am so glad I took them.

They learned more about trusting me and that they can let go a little and know that I will still catch them. (and in this case not let them drown) I was able to see their excitement about going into the water and see them go from not trusting at all to relinquishing complete control over to me. They both had so much fear in the beginning, but by the end had complete faith in my ability to keep them safe.

This is such a beautiful reminder to me of how I am with God at times. I go in excited but completely lacking in faith and come out of it trusting and completely willing to give my control of the situation over to Him.