We're Halfway there...

OH OH...LIVIN ON A PRAYER, TAKE MY HAND AND WE'LL MAKE IT I SWEAR...OH OH...

forgive the Bon Jovi song, but as I keep thinking about being HALFWAY through this pregnancy, this song pops in my head. and it's all a little true...we'll be living on a prayer (or more) and we'll make it (i swear).

so, yeah, 20 weeks marks the halfway point for us. i can't believe we are entering the second half of the pregnancy. my belly now looks more like a baby belly and less like a fatty belly. i feel so great. i'm trying to stay active b/c i know as i get bigger, it'll just be harder to do. i pee a lot. i've decided to take a tally today to see how much i go. i mean--last night from 7-10pm i went about 8 times. and i've been getting up in the middle of the night for the past 6 or so weeks. i know, i know, just wait til i have a bigger little person pressing down on my bladder. i get it. i'm just surprised at how much i have to go already!

i am both excited and petrified of being a mom. i must say that so far the journey has been amazing. God has really been meeting me in the places of my insecurity, doubt or fear. He has also really bonded Adam and I as we talk about parenthood and all the expected (& unexpected) stuff that goes along with it. He's going to be an amazing daddy to our little girl. I can't wait.

Here are pictures of both of us at this halfway point!!

Adam wanted me to pull up the orange tank b/c he said i looked weird!

it was AMAZING...as always

I just got back from a trip out to Frontier Ranch with 36 high schoolers and 6 other leaders for the most amazing week ever. I'm trying to think of the best way to share this with y'all...i'll settle for a list. So, here are some of the MANY highlights of the week:
- Being able to take girls to camp...I haven't done that in 4 years!
- Being in Colorado and at Frontier.
the most perfect Rainbow
- Laughing until I want to pee in my pants (i can get away with this too)
- Hearing about how much God loves me and my high school friends..."God loves you the most and knows you the best"
- Eating at a crazy western steakhouse with neckties, dancing, a mascot, an indoor slide & texas-sized servings of food.
- Seeing my friends' faces light up...constantly as they are surprised!
- Watching the walls come down...that so many of us build up to protect ourselves.
- Having real conversations with my friends about real stuff.
- Dressing up & being silly
- Winning the Golden Glove for the cleanest cabin!!! Yeah we did!
our Cabin with the GOLDEN GLOVE..be jealous
- Experiencing God through nature, my high school friends, the camp staff, humor, and through His Word.
- Having my friends share their excitement about our baby--telling me they can't wait to meet her and loving her already.
- Camp food...mainly the best dessert ever called Trainwreck. oh wow.
- Reading "Same kind of different as me"
- Being able to love on my high school friends, just like I was loved by my YL leaders & Youth Group leaders when I was in high school.
our group on Western night

and really so much more! I love how God shows up at camp, I love the way Young Life uses every detail of camp to reveal God's love to teenagers. I love that YL camp is placed in beautiful places where we can't deny His existence or His love for us. I love that God allows me to be apart of what He is doing in the lives of others.
This past week was more than I could have hoped for...it was AMAZING.

Colorado's calling

In 2 days I board a plane with 36 high school kids and 5 other leaders for Colorado (Frontier Ranch). This is my first trip to summer camp with my friends from Country Day and I am stoked! We have 5 girls and 4 guys going from CCDS. Summer camp is one of my favorite things about Young Life. I went to both Windy Gap and Frontier in high school and my life is forever changed because of those trips. I believe it what Young Life does, but they really do it well at camp. It's a week away from life at home. A week filled with first-time adventures. A week filled with friendships that last a lifetime. A week filled with experiencing God in new ways...through the speaker, the workers at camp, other kids, leaders, the scenery...everything. And I can't wait to spend a week with my friends!

There are only 2 bummers about this trip. 1) it's the longest Adam and I have been away from each other. Sad, i know. i think i'll miss him a whole bunch! and 2) i am limited in my activities due to my beautiful baby girl growing inside me. it's kinda bittersweet...i'm not sorry i'm pregnant, but i will miss out on some fun fun things at camp. However, my time and conversations with girls will be way more remembered than their horseback ride, i know this. And i'll get to take lots of pictures.
Thanks for praying for my time at camp and for Adam while he's home alone. :) Here are a few pics of my time at Frontier when I was in high school for your enjoyment!


me, lindsay & julie on the bus!


the cabin at the Volleyball tourney...nice hair


me and my YL leader, Melissa after i creamed her at the Carnival!

watch out boys b/c

we are having a GIRL. yup, we found out today (Wednesday) and it was very exciting. i mean--we have so many options...to find out or not. but, we decided to find out and it was TOTALLY worth it. what a fun surprise mid-pregnancy.
there is a lot that we've been through as we've processed this whole thing...becoming parents. maybe more me than adam. but, it's been a great process...i've really seen God softening my heart towards this baby and towards the idea of having a girl. i still can't believe we are going to have a baby...that's just crazy. but a good crazy.
Even though it wasn't in our plan at this time, i'm beginning to see that it's part of God's plan for us. And there is the whole cliche that His plan is better than ours...and I know that is true. But, sometimes that's still tricky to believe. I am really beginning to believe it now, especially as He prepares me for motherhood. I feel like I have lots to share about this process so far, but I'll keep this short and share a few pictures of our baby girl. We loved seeing her move around during the ultrasound. Everything looked okay!!
(you will get to know her name when you meet her in November)


this is the freaky front view of her face...i'm sure it's a cute one!


i love the profile pictures!

a little 411

I've decided i'm not a good blogger. i have plenty i want to share, but then i get lazy or think people don't want to read my rants & happenings. but, i vow to get better. plus, if i don't have pictures to post it can be LAME. i digress...
anyway, over memorial day weekend we went camping in the rain. i wanted to tell about how i love to watch my husband build a fire...he does it so specifically and intensely. i wanted to tell about our hikes in the rain, which were so fun. one was like walking through ferngully (anyone remember that movie?). i wanted to tell you about our gourmet camping meals, then of course how we cheated and went to Daniel Boone Inn in Boone to chow down on some family style dining. i was hoping for fried chicken and green beans...i got that and so much more. we had a great time camping...but we have so much to learn about car camping with kids. looking forward to lots of adventures. oh, and i forgot our camera...no pics of our time in the mountains. boo on me!!
so, this week is big...wednesday we'll be finding out what our little one is...a boy or a girl. i should set up one of those poll things to see what everyone thinks. too much trouble to figure out.
then, i leave saturday for a week at Frontier Ranch with girls (will post more later on this). i'm super excited, but also realized it'll be the longest adam and i are away from each other. sad.
that's what's going on here..hope to have lots of pictures to post soon...baby & camp.

late night reads

It's 5:15 in the morning and I've been up for almost 3 hours. Not by choice. no. First it's the need to use the bathroom. Some have said it's my body getting ready for waking with my baby. Boo on that. I don't want to "get ready" I want to sleep. Then, it's this ridiculously stuffy & runny nose. Both at the same time. A preganancy cold, perhaps. Whatever it is, it's keeping me from my beauty sleep.

I just finished Khaled Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns. When Kite Runner came out, I refused to jump on the band wagon. But after seeing the moving a couple years ago, I knew I had to read it. It's one of the hardest, most amazing books to read. And this is like it. Since I'm a visual reader (the story plays like a movie in my head), I can get sucked into a good book. The story of love, forgiveness, sacrifice, and hope overwhelms me. I read both of these books fast because the stories are so gripping. I think everyone should read them. I'm serious.

So, if you find yourself up in the middle of the night, pick up one of Hosseini's books.

a little soap box can't do any harm

It's time for a new post. Oftentimes I'll be out and about and think of something I want to share (i.e. soapbox about) and realize that this blog can be that too. So, here it is...
When people ask what my pet peeves are, I can never think of any. Not that I don't get annoyed. I do. And often. But, lately I'll notice things and want to scream. For instance, shopping carts. Oh my goodness, I cannot stand when people cannot return a shopping cart to the store front or those CONVENIENTLY placed "leave shopping carts here" areas. I see them in parking spots, or half-way up on a curb, or on a sidewalk. REALLY?! Is it that hard to walk it 10, maybe 30 feet? NO! If you are one of these people, I'm sorry. But it gets on my nerves. If only I had the nerve to say something. Like one time at Costco an old man yelled out of his car at another old man who was trying to leave his cart half-way up on a curb. It worked. I admire that guy who spoke up. Me. I just get pissed. I'm thankful my parents taught us to return them. As a child we'd fight over who could take the cart back. Oh fun times for the fam.
Another thing are blinkers. I'm pretty sure the car industry didn't put them on our cars just for the hell of it. Why don't people use their blinkers? And, really, it doesn't help if you turn it on right as you turn. Nope, I need some warning. But, to be honest I could probably improve my driving too.
Oh, I got another one. Four-Way stops. Did we all take Drivers' Ed? I think so. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the person to the RIGHT or the first on at the intersection has the right-of-way. Right? Have you ever gotten to a 4-way stop and the other cars are just looking around, or hesitating, or even letting people go in the wrong order? It makes me crazy.

I'm sure there is more..like tipping and other stuff. But, I'll stop right now. So far I feel a little better getting this off my chest. But it also makes me feel like a grumpy old woman. Which I'm not. My soap boxing is playful. I promise. Even things like this I see God using to stretch and grow me...to learn how to love others (even when they get on my nerves). I'm totally sure I get on God's nerves and He really loves me.
(if you learn anything from this, return your carts, use your blinkers and follow the 4-way stop rules) ha!