Pancake Party!

Last weekend we had our college group over for a party! We have two bible studies that have blended together for a few months now and we wanted everyone to get to really hang out with each other! We had a great time!! We had pancakes with more toppings than  you can imagine! Breakfast casserole, pigs in a blanket, cereal, milk, orange and apple juice! Top it all off with a warm brownie!

Pics courtesy  of Christy and Victoria!

4x4=16

Yesterday was our four month DTE date! Today, I am 16 weeks pregnant!

Last night as I was going to bed, I was thinking about what having children does to Ryan and I. I was thinking about what a real unbreakable connection we will have for the rest of our lives. I mean I know that marriage gives you that, but I feel like with children it secures the bond. I felt this strong like excitement and peace about the connection. There is (obviously) noone else I would rather take this journey with. Ryan is just the best and I can't believe how lucky I am.

I wish they would do a 25 & Pregnant, or even a Married & Expecting season on MTV to show those girls what life CAN be like if you wait to have kids. I mean there would still be some drama, hormones are all over the place, but the underlying message of the show would be love.

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We moved A LOT the last month! Praise God!!

This was about 2 weeks ago...Around Week 14

An Obedient Journey!

Y'all might remember Rebekah from Saying Yes to Adoption. They have been home about 2 months with their Ethiopian cutie pie!! He is presh...
Anyway,
They know a couple who have decided to follow their call adopt a *FEW* kiddos from the Ukraine!! You can follow their story over on: An Obedient Journey!

"The wake-up call was on February 5th, 2011, when our college pastor was scheduled to teach a sermon on adoption, both about the adoption of children and about our adoption by God. I remember walking into the room where Les was ironing that morning saying “I kind of don’t want to go, because I know it will bring it all up again.” That actually brings tears to my eyes typing this because I realize that the conviction of God was there then and I was ignoring it. When we left church that morning, my heart was just really heavy with that conviction. Before we even got home from that service, we knew that we had to rethink “our plan” and follow God’s plan for our lives. We started talking with the college pastor and his wife about their adoption to get more information. They are wonderful by the way, and you can read all about their adoption at http://yestoadoption.blogspot.com/. In just a short time, we made our decision that we would follow this conviction on our hearts and adopt! Our hope is that we will adopt siblings from Ukraine. We absolutely cannot wait to see what God has in store for us!"- An Obedient Journey

The family is trying very hard to raise money for their adoption. They have some SUPER cute stuff in her etsy store.  Here is what I bought and LOOOOVE...

They will look perfect in my kitchen!!

She has some other super cute stuff for a reasonable price! Head over to Stitched in Love and help them raise money :)

Some items from her store...

Table Runner- $20

Set of Two Tea Towels- $10

Clutch- $10

Red, White, and Blue Opportunity.

I saw this video over on Give 1 Save 1. They have a much nicer write up about the story, so head over there to read it. BUT, you *must* watch this video. My heart is melted.

Proud Wifey...

Ryan's Licensing from ryan thompson on Vimeo.

NYC- Mission Trip!

A few weeks ago I went with my church to New York City for a mission trip. I was pretty anxious about going on this trip because I hadn't been feeling great and Ryan wasn't going. I wasn't sure how I would handle the trip. On all of my mission trips I always am prepared to see what God is going to teach me. Nicaragua- Foreign missionary was NOT what I was called to at that point in my life. Venezuela- All about the people. Most welcoming group I have ever been a part of. Alabama Tornado Relief- Serving together creates friendships. Alabama Gulf Shores Youth Trip- Kids need AND actually want slightly older people to help disciple them through high school. Now NYC...
As I mentioned before, I was really nervous to go on this trip because I wasn't sure how I could physically handle it. Our schedule was intense from the get go. Day one we had to leave the church at 3:30AM. Pregnant and very little sleep?- YIKES! 

Yet, God provided. For the first time in my life, I had an empty spot next to me on our first plane ride and was able to catch some ZZZs! Thank you God! It was just the preview I needed to trust Him with my trip.

That was a really long day of travel. Once we got to NYC we did some sight seeing, eating, and shopping! By the time we got to the shopping, I was starting to loose it. I hadn't slept much and we walked A LOT. I was texting Ryan and starting to get overwhelmed when I just prayed. "God I can't do this, how am I going to do this for 4 days?, I can't handle this. Help me."  As I finished praying. BAM!  I found a spot to sit! No shopping for this lady! I sat for about 45 minutes and just was so thankful that God had provided. Silly, ooooh sooo necessary!!

Another very similar situation. Our free day was one of the hardest days for me. We walked to the Metropolitan Museum, then walked and toured the museum, thankfully took a taxi to Bloomingdale's. Had a wonderful lunch and the sat down on some chairs while my friends shopped! (Not much shopping was done by me!). Then we met our group at the World Trade Center and took a trip to Chinatown. Wow. This was tough. It was soooo hot and there was no slowing down. Our group was on the move to find some stuff and I was praying,"God, what am I going to do? How can I keep up?!, I can't make it." Then BAM! It was the coolest part of my trip. Some of the girls just suddenly decided they didn't want to go with the guy leading us, PERFECT! I didn't either, lets find something else to do...I kid you not, a block over there was a PARK. Literally a park right in the middle of Chinatown. It had tons of benches to sit at, and tons of shade. Thank you God! I was blown away. We rested and then I was okay for the rest of the night!! God had made it so clear that He would take care of me.

The rest of the trip was great! When we were working, I didn't have any problems because I was able to sit and rest any time I needed. We worked several churches helping them clean up and organize. We did helped out with two evening meals.   Oh we also got to see Justin Bieber :) Bonus!

Working at Park Slope Community Church!

Organizing the pantry!

Organizing random tracks.

Lots of subway trips!

Before...

During..

After!

Serving and visiting at Graffiti Church!

Yep. That's the Biebs.

So all that to say.

God showed me that He will provide if I just put myself out there and trust Him.

He never let me down.

  

July 4th!

Ryan and I had a great time on July 4th! I was a little sad we did not have my family's pool to hang out during the day, but we made it work anyway.  We watched the hot dog eating contest at Ryan's grandparent's, and enjoyed their pool, stopped by a bbq birthday party, whopped up on some people at ladders, then ended the day with a wonderful time at our local park's firework show. Enjoy the pictures!

Summertime!

It is summer time. For a teacher that means being off from work...Yippeee!!! For most people it seems to me, that they are pretty busy during the days. I, however, am enjoying my last kid-free summer by doing a whole lot of nothing. I lounge around the house most days, doing one or two chores (maybe). On some days, I literally stay home all day. Awesome right?? Well it is, but lately we have had some pesky visitors taking shelter in our fireplace. Birds. That. Chirp. CONSTANTLY!! It is so annoying. Have a listen for yourself...

Maybe this is God's way of telling me to get out of the house and go do something.