Weekend update.

I officially found a new love this weekend, Downton Abbey.  It's a great period series about an upper class family and the servants who all live and work under the same HUGE roof.  Everyone is in everyone's business and there's plenty of scandal and intrigue to go around.  Besides, I love the beautiful rooms and clothes of the upper class ladies. I'm excited that there's a second season and can't wait to get my hands on it.

This past week, the hubs and I signed up for a gym membership. We've been wanting to get back into some sort of exercise routine for a while but couldn't figure how to work it into our schedule. I would love to just get outside and walk, but that doesn't really seem to happen thanks to extreme Indiana weather and lack of good places outside our door.  So, to my surprise, we took the plunge and are now gym members.

Today, we met with a trainer for a fitness evaluation.  It wasn't exactly what I expected at first.  I thought they would just show us the different equipment and how to use it.  But instead, we talked about our goals, previous exercise experiences and weaknesses or what's holding us back.  Then we had a personalized strengthening workout.

Clearly, by the end, we could see the purpose of our free evaluation was to get us hooked on needing a personal trainer.  But wowzers were the prices high.  It was like 6 times what we're already paying just to be a member.  After today, I think this is something I'd like to add to our list of "wants" for when we're rich and famous, but let's just say, we're not there yet.

We still left the place excited to be starting and ready to get active again.  I'm not sure how this will all pan out over the next several months with a baby on the way.  But short term, I'm hoping it strengthens my back, makes me feel better about myself, and makes it easier to prepare for taking care of a baby/getting back to pre-pregnancy me. I've heard it can help with labor too so I'm hoping that's true.

My final thought really has nothing to do with the weekend.  Other than the fact that I ate an orange yesterday and will probably have one tonight, I just wanted to blog about the fact that I love that it's citrus season. I'm such a fruit fanatic and that's only increased with this pregnancy. I have eaten so many oranges and grapefruit and cuties in the past month.  And I have loved every minute.



Above: photo from http://themeadowbrookblog.blogspot.com/

Blind Love

I titled this post blind love, but it could easily be called kitchen renovation part 3? or 4?.  Eventually, one day, I believe we will be finished with our kitchen updates.  But until then, I have learned to be content with the stage we're at and making changes as we can.  

One of several things that really needed to go when we moved in was the blinds in the kitchen.  They were frustrating to use and looked ugly. 

Above: Exhibit A -- The kitchen before any renovations.  

Notice the blinds?  Notice the hunter green paint? hmmm...

However, when we got to a good stopping point in the renovations, somehow, the blinds stayed.  We hung on to them as long as possible.  And slowly, each one broke adding to my dislike for them all together. 

Above: Last standing of the original blinds.  

For a while, several of the windows in the kitchen, which is in the front of the house, didn't have any covering.  I really wanted Roman Shades or the 2" wooden blinds.  But I also didn't want to spend a great deal on window coverings, which I began to realize would stay with the house when we move one day anyway.  

So, we bought a few different types to try out at home.  And we actually hung some dark bamboo roman shades that looked great.  However, they had one hitch: ZERO privacy.

Above: Dark Roman Shades, which you could see straight through, especially in the evening.

I think if I were a bit more into sewing I might have been able to figure out a way to put a backing on them.  But after them hanging for a couple of months, (and by a couple of months, I mean, notice the seasons change in the pictures) I resigned to the fact that I'm not a sewing, crafty type person, and we took them back.

And this weekend, we finally made it our mission to find blinds that would give us privacy.  We are now proud owners of white, plastic blinds.  Yep, after all of that, we were very happy to have simple, inexpensive, privacy blocking but not light blocking, plastic blinds.  And I LOVE them.  

I'm so happy to know that we no longer have strangers and prowlers peering in on us.

Above: Final product.  

Also, I'm so thankful for a hubby who's willing to figure out things that might seem menial to some but important to me.  Perhaps he is the one who sweetly has the blind love.  Now onto our next adventure. :) 

Next steps

Growing up, I can remember hearing my mom say that she always wanted to be a mom.  That made me feel special and wanted.  It made me proud of her and thankful to know how much she loved us and what she sacrificed for us.

Above: Ellie Kate's heart beat.

Now, it is my turn to be a mom, and the more I feel Ellie Kate grow inside of me, the more I fall in love with her.  When the hubs and I were dating, we talked about our future together.  It was both of our hearts' desire that I could stay home with our children.  

Above: Ellie Kate's lungs, heart and spine.

So, then, it would seem obvious that I would stay home when Ellie comes.  But I can honestly say, that it has not been quite so simple for me to come to this decision.  I really enjoy what I'm doing and love being on staff at Life Centers.  In a short 6 months, I've grown to love the women that I work with... volunteers and staff.  I admire the women who give their time to be a part of this ministry.  Wisdom and grace abounds, and clearly, God is in control.  

Time and again, a woman enters our doors saying she wants to volunteer.  She doesn't know why, but she can't escape the Holy Spirit tugging on her heart.  As we talk, she tears up, surprising herself with this emotion.  I know exactly how she feels because that was me when I came to offer my abilities to volunteer last spring.

And time and time again, a woman enters our door thinking she's there for a quick pregnancy test.  And yet, she will leave saying that she knows that she was supposed to come in, and she feels God's tugging on her heart.  He's pursuing her.

My view on abortion and Life Centers has changed quite a bit since I began volunteering.  Before, I felt it was import to change the laws, which is still important.  And when I first came to volunteer, I thought it was all about saving the lives of unborn babies, which is also still important.  

And yet, there is a woman who walks through our door, and she has fallen between the cracks of society.  She's never the same but often similar in one way.... if she would just surrender to Christ, and follow His boundaries of love, and build a foundation of the Word, her life would forever be changed in a positive way.  Everything would fall into place.  Everything may not become perfect or exactly fixed, but she would be in a better place to face her decisions.

Above: Ellie Kate's spine, head and hand (facing down).

Just yesterday, I was counseling a very young girl, and I asked her, "Why do you think that when you come in for a pregnancy test, I would start talking with you about Jesus Christ?"  

She was undecided as to whether or not she would parent or abort her possible pregnancy.  And that is where being pregnant has become an amazing part of my ministry.  I pointed to my stomach and told her, "I don't do anything to make my baby grow. Sure, I eat and sleep, but I would do that anyways to take care of myself.  I never have to tell my little girl, 'Don't forget to grow your fingers today.  Or today, it's taste buds' turn to form.'"  Life is a miracle.  No matter the circumstances.

Above: Ellie Kate at 21 weeks.

Sharing God's Truth with others can only have one effect.  It makes me want to walk closer with God.  By telling of His love and truth, I am reminded of how God's love and truth abounds.  When telling another woman how she can keep Christ in the center of her life, I am challenged to do the same in my life.  It is how God created us.  By sharing, we grow and so does our compassion for others.  

If you're reading this and feel God's Holy Spirit tugging at your heart, I want to encourage you to get involved.  Get involved in a ministry that is near to your heart.  Take a risk and donate some time to a ministry like Life Centers.  

Above: Ellie Kate being very lady-like with her legs together. (bent at the knee)

I know this is easy for me to say, seeing as I don't have any children consuming my attention at this moment.  And that brings me back to my (our --the hubs and I) decision.  I am going to resign my post as co-director at the NE center mid-March.  But once I've gotten through the first few months of being a new mom with an infant, I hope to remain involved somehow.  I don't know how, but I serve an amazing God who will light the path.  

traditions

During the Christmas season, traditions always seem to come up in conversation.  The hubs and I don't have too many traditions yet, but there is one that has remained strong since I was a child... Christmas pj's.  That's right.  Every Christmas Eve, my parents would let us open one present.  And it was always new pajamas to wear to bed and wear all Christmas day while we played with our new toys.

Growing up, I don't think I was so wise to my parents.  We would always BEG to get to open a present the night before.  And I can't tell you when I caught on to the whole, it's pajamas, again.  I just remember getting the wonder woman jammies with cape one year, my brother was batman and robin's Robin with the cape and my sister was older and not so into capes so hers had a small kitty pattern all over it.  That was the best jammies Christmas of my memory.  Sometime I will have to share that picture, which I don't have with me or in digital form.

But I do have this year's Christmas jammies pic.  That's right.  My mom still does Christmas jammies every year. ... for all of us.  We all got our pj's at Thanksgiving this year and was told to wear them to Christmas brunch.  Gotta admit, it takes the pressure off of what to wear, and it sure is comfortable.

Above: Christmas Jammies 2011

My grandparents, sister, nephew and uncle are in the first row.

My parents, us, nephew, bro-in-law and his mom are in second row.

Side note: One might notice a certain pair of jeans in this picture, which aren't really pj-like at all.  My uncle says that he's wearing his jammies underneath.  Good enough.

time keeps moving forward.

The holiday season went by so quick.   It's hard to believe it's all over.  I was just sitting in bed this morning thinking about how much I enjoyed Christmas week.  What's not to love about an entire month filled with glitter, sparkles, and red and green decorations?

I loved baking holiday treats and Christmas cookies with family, seeing friends and family at holiday parties, and bringing in the New Year's with good friends, sparkling juice and Dick Clark's Rockin' New Year's Eve.  But my favorite part was getting to share the entire week between Christmas and New Year's with my hubs.  It may be our last vacation for a long time as just the two of us.  Sadly, I think I wasted most of the last day just dreading it all being over.  But routine is good, and we've transitioned very well back into life after all.

Speaking of life, I'm 26 weeks pregnant now. The anticipation to meet our bundle of joy is growing almost as fast as my tummy.  My tummy has a definite bump even though I keep hearing how I need to grow more.  But I can assure you, I can feel the tightness every day as little Ellie Kate continues to stake claim to her space.

Above: 6 Months / Week 24

I've started to feel her kicks and movements more often, which is so exciting.  It's pure joy to know she's in there moving and growing.  I often tell her that I can't wait to meet her but I will.  She needs to just keep growing in her perfect little home for right now.