Well it's official...

...I'ts a girl!
So we have arrived at the halfway point in pregnancy and I am honestly feeling much better.  I really struggled through the first trimester as I couldn't eat or smell anything, was nauseated all the time, and basically survived on oatmeal and smoothies.  Yummy!  Moving into the second trimester, that subsided a bit but introduced a new stage of pregnancy side effects, throwing up with no warning or reason.  I was nauseated all the time during trimester 1 but never threw up, not so this round.  It was a little less consuming but still a little annoying.  Thankfully, except for a few random occasions  that has subsided as well and baby and I are eating lots and enjoying it.  I don't really have an appetite for too much and certainly no cravings but overall we are keeping food down and able to be out without many smells effecting us.  Rob and I were kind of like little school kids waiting nervously for our first day of class before the ultrasound.  Not sure how to feel, nervous, excited, uncertain.  We were both very excited to see our little one for the first time and to hear that everything was right on target, 50% in everything, which is apparently exactly where you want them at this point.  Finally after the tech had done all her measuring she asked if we wanted to know what it was.  Emphatically we both said YES, so she moved around to see if she could get a good shot.  Man our little one was doing so good and gave us a great and clear view.  It's a girl, no question about it and she's perfect. 

Isn't she just beautiful ;)  Don't worry if you can't see anything, I never could either

I wasn't really feeling excited or really anything about the pregnancy until I saw her.  Now everything feels more real and concrete and I'm actually feeling some emotional attachement to her.  It's a little hard because I really don't look pregnant at all.  I more look like I had a really big dinner or something... But she certainly does let me know she is there so that helps.  

This is what I have to show for 20 weeks pregnant

So I decided that I should start keeping track of how I'm feeling and what's been happening so I might be able to remember after she's born.  I'll be trying to update this about every week or two to keep everyone posted on how it's going.

Weekly Questionaire

How far along? 20 weeks 6 days

Total weight gain: -3 lbs     

Maternity clothes? Not even close, though I would really like a wardrobe of leggings and tunics       

Stretch marks? Nope  

Sleep: I sleep fairly well, just can't sleep on my stomach anymore which has made it a little difficult.  Up usually once a night for the bathroom   

Best moment this week: Best moment of the last week was getting to "meet" our baby for the first time and finding out who she's going to be

What's been on your mind? I have been overwhelmed with planning everything for her.  Nursery furniture, bedding, apartment, feeding, hospital needs/expectations 

Miss Anything?  Seriously have been missing Margaritas for quite a while.  Strange since I don't usually drink them but maybe it's cuz I can't.

Movement: She's been moving around for about 3 weeks now.  Nothing crazy but lets me know she's there.      

Food cravings: Nothing really, chocolate has come onto my radar but that's about it.       

Symptoms: Finally I don't really have any right now.  I'm sure they will pick up soon again though.   

~Becky

I'm back... And long overdue I know :-(

Well life here has settled down a bit and since I feel I might have some extra time, with only working one job, I figured it was high time I started writing on this blog again and see where it takes me.  It's been almost 10 months since I wrote last so sorry to those who were hoping this would keep you better informed on our lives...  Over the last year since we have been here, I have had two jobs, Rob has had two jobs, we have completed an entire year of seminary (yay!) and we are now cleaning up from the holiday craziness.  In about March I got two jobs within a week of each other.  First, I went back to Starbucks full time with the intention of moving up in the company and pursuing management.  I was also offered a job doing case management, similar to what I was doing in Florida, and I began doing that part time.  As time went on, I was asked to take on more cases and go full time at the case management office, and was also being pursued for management through Starbucks.  Makes for some fun decisions!  After much prayer, we decided that I should step back from Starbucks a bit and work more full time doing case management as this offered us more income and thus flexibility as well.  That continued for several more months.  I was transferred to a new and much busier store in August, where I really enjoyed working.  However, in early October we discovered that we were pregnant and the intensity of work became increasingly more difficult due to the increased exhaustion from 1st trimester pregnancy intensified by the fact that I was having a very difficult time eating anything or really maintaining my strength in any way.  After a few weeks of struggling through work, we decided that it would be best for me to stop working at Starbucks and focus on picking up more cases to supplement at work.  I told my boss and we set my time to end after the holidays were through.  I officially had my final day at Starbucks, for the 3rd time, on December 31st.  It was such a relief to know that I would not have to get up at 4am again or stay up till 11pm (until the baby).  We have just returned from 10 whole days home with my family and our friends in Tampa and I am so refreshed and ready to see what this next chapter brings for us.  We have had so many first this past year.  Big move together, starting seminary, new jobs, first place, first Christmas together married (and last one alone) and finally we move on to the new chapter that 2013 brings our way.  In just a short 5 months, we will hopefully be bringing home a new baby, to another new house that we have yet to find and we will be embarking on that journey of parenting that will change our lives forever.  I praise God for his mercy and guidance and know that he will lead us and give us all the strength we need.

Heres to 2013!!!

~ Becky

Sorry it's been a bit

Hey all, I'm sorry it's been a bit since I posted.  It's been a combination of being sick for a week and then not having much new to report.  So now that there is some news, I will write!

I officially start at Starbucks today, working as a shift supervisor, so not the kind of money I would like to be making, but they have plans for/with me to get me on the management track as soon as possible for our district so hopefully it won't be too long of a wait for that.  I will be training for the next couple weeks and then I'll be on my own to run shifts.  I will be working in a mall store which has good qualities and bad.  The best part is the hours, we have to be in to open at 8:30 and we close out at 9:30.  Not bad compared to other stores!  So this will be my life for a while, back at the Bucks and I think I will like it.  I always look at is as my favorite job that I have done and though it's back to hourly pay, hopefully it won't stay that way for too long.  I'm excited to have something to do finally.

We are still on the church hunt, probably will have a decision after another month.  We want to pick our top three and then go to each of them again to get a better feel for what they do and who they are.  During this search I have really been wishing that there were more Sunday's in a week so it didn't take so long!  I'm ready to find a home and start getting involved in ministry and meeting the people there.  A friend brought up something we have been thinking, around here when you pick your church home it often feels like you are choosing the group of friends you will and won't have for the next 3 years.  That's kinda a strange thought when you meet people outside of that setting.  Hopefully we will be able to maintain the friendships that we have started already once things get into full swing.

One big change for us is we have decided to fully (almost) embrace the Paleo diet and start making meal plans according to that.  Always gotta keep things interesting for me in the planning department!  I'm learning all the new ways of cooking and how to use different things that I'm used to.  It's been educational and interesting, though it does take a little more work.  We're getting the hang of it though and hopefully will be feeling fabulous in a short while!

It seems time is really flying around here.  From what everyone tells us, March is an insane month for weather and if the first few days are any indication then we are right on track for that.  Last week we had a couple days of 65-70 degree weather, I almost went without a coat!  And then, as I'm sure most of you saw, we had tornadoes all around us on Friday.  It's a scary thing when suddenly all the tornado warnings start going off around you.  Not even 20 miles away they caused massive devastation and several deaths, thankfully we did not get any of it though.  So then we wake up on Monday morning and there is 3 inches of snow on the ground, and on our cars.  Crazy is a mild word for it for sure!! We are getting used to it though and I'm really looking forward to spring cause from what I hear life begins to start picking up.  We have farmers markets and events all over the place.  Our home will be a hotel of sorts the week after Easter for the Together for the Gospel conference (so excited!) and then I think derby is close after that!  This town might grow on me yet. 

Well I guess that's enough for now.  I'll try to post again before the weekend and get a little more consistent at it so ya'll know what's going on in our world!

Becky

Valentines day and week 4!

Well... I had great intentions of diligently posting a V-day update from us in the lovely, sometimes white, north... However, I forgot.  I hope you will forgive me but I'm doing it now so lets see if I can make it up. 

So this year, being our very first valentine's day as a married couple we thought we would try to do something special (not like that isn't the norm but...).  The original thought was to go out to dinner and maybe do something afterwards but then reality hit and we remembered that valentine's day dinners are 1) crazy busy and 2) crazy expensive!!  So instead of braving the mobs of people who were also going to be crammed into a restaurant attempting to have a romantic dinner with their love, we decided to stay in and I ventured to make dinner.  I made a fabulous recipe of broiled lobster tail, mashed Jerusalem artichoke and asparagus.  I got a little help from The Fresh Market for dessert (I wouldn't wanna go overboard on our first v-day afterall).  So we enjoyed a fabulous meal that my wonderful husband assisted me in preparing when he got home from class.  He also surprised me with a beautiful bouquet of pink roses, specialty Belgian chocolates and the newly released Blu-ray version of my favorite Disney movie, Lady and the Tramp!  It was a wonderful little evening that we got to spend together.  Rare during the week so all the more treasured. 

Here is a picture of my little collection of gifts.

In other news, also on Tuesday I (Becky) had a meeting with an agency that does case management similar to what I was doing in Florida.  The meeting went really well and the basically offered me a job if I'd like to take it.  The condition is they don't have any cases for me as of yet and they only pay on a case by case basis so I would only make as much as they were getting for the cases I was holding.  A fairly obvious things for them but it puts me in the place of having to wait for cases to come in and probably not making much for few weeks to a few months.  I think I will probably take that job though I did also get a call last week from another agency who is supposed to be getting back to me this week on a position they might want to offer me.  Depending on which one is a better offer in the long run and what makes most sense, I will probably make a decision.  I am also going to pursue some conversations with managers at Starbucks to see if I can get myself in there again.  I little birdie told me that one of the stores is going to be losing a full time shift supervisor within the next few weeks and that might be my ticket in the door with a shift position.  Now for some sweet talking...


We are doing well other than that.  We visited another church today that was good, they are all good.  So far on our list we have visited 3rd Avenue Baptist, Fellowship Church, Sojourn, Immanuel Baptist and today Clifton Baptist.  We have the unique problem here in Louisville of having so many good solid churches here, mostly due to the seminary, that it's not a matter of finding a good church it's just finding the one that fits with exactly what we need and what we are looking for.  So far we think we have it down to 2 churches and there is one more on the list to visit.  After that we will hopefully make a decision and then we can start really getting to know people and get involved.  It's really starting to effect us that we don't have community here yet, no girls for me to hang out with and develop accountability, no guys for Rob to do the same and no discipleship.  We are really in need of those things so it will be good to get ourselves settled and begin to really invest. 

Rob wanted me to let you know how blessed he feels to have this opportunity to be here at seminary and how much we recognize the responsibility that comes with this great blessing.  Though his nights are mostly filled with reading (about 100 pages per day) and his days are filled with more study and reading when not in class, he is/we are both so grateful that we have been given this opportunity to be here in this place to study God's word and to learn more deeply the truths of his gospel and his grace. 

Please keep us in your prayers as we continue to adjust to this new stage, actually these several new stages in our lives.  We are trusting in God but can always use your prayers as we learn how to walk as Christ calls us to and to continually be growing in our understanding and application of our roles as husband and wife.  I guess that's all for now...

Offically 3 weeks in

Well, we have now officially been in Kentucky for 3 weeks now and life is starting to feel normal.  I'm slowly getting the lay of the land and figuring out where my favorite spots are.  I'm excited that our place is in a really centralize location and we have all the best stores around!  We have a Trader Joes, Whole Foods and Fresh Market all within about 5 miles of us.  It does wonders for a budding culinary explorer like myself.  The house has begun to feel like a home though I have plans to paint strips on the bedroom wall and still have wedding pictures to put up, as soon as I find some frames that are suitable.  Sometimes being picky isn't so fabulous but I know the right thing will show up sooner or later and my creative juices will start flowing.  

I had a job interview on Wednesday last week with the State of Kentucky, child protective services division.  I didn't realize it at the time but I actually interviewed for three jobs at once in a panel interview.  A bit more intimidating than one on one interviews, especially since I'm pretty sure this is my second interview ever!  I'm not sure how it went but I'm hoping and praying that it went well.  I think there were about 6 people who were interviewed so that's not too bad of odds.  Not sure when I will find out if I got it or not, I was too nervous to remember to ask...  I really have to get better at interviewing.  I have another meeting on Tuesday this week with a lady who runs a case management agency here (similar to what I was doing in FL for the past few years).  I'm not sure if that is something I want to do or not but never hurts to find out more information and may it will be as flexible and with less of the headaches and stresses, one can hope!!  I have also put in some applications for part time/hourly paid jobs cuz we need to have some kind of income soon and I'm about to go crazy!  

I have started a new chapter in my life, I never thought it would happen but I have started to make grocery lists and plan my meals on a weekly basis.  I'm not getting so scheduled as to decide which day gets what meal but I am planning it as far as I need to to make sure we have the things in the house that I need.  I guess it's more out of necessity because I decided I wanted to start using there recipe books that we have around here instead of just having them make me look more skilled in the kitchen.  My favorite two things at the moment are my trusty Publix Apron Meals cards that are so easy, and the Deliciously Organic cookbook that I got for my shower from my dear friend Amanda!  I never knew that I would actually enjoy cooking but it's fun to try new things and even if a recipe has lots of ingredients, rarely is it actually all that difficult to make.  Plus, I have nothing else to do right now so I might as well experiment, as long as I don't actually ruin anything beyond repair... I don't want to waste precious ingredients carelessly.  Always a balance between creativity and budget.  Such is life :)  On another cooking note... I successfully melted chocolate today!!!  I can't tell you how many times I have tried at failed at this seemingly simple task and yet, I finally did it, and I successfully made cake balls (cake pops without the sticks).  They are very yummy, now if only I could get someone else other than us to eat them so we don't gain 100lbs! 

Well, if you think of it, keep me/us in your prayers and the job hunt continues and the church hunt continues (more about that in the next post).  We are doing well but really are looking forward to settling in somewhere and starting to get some friends that we can spend time with.  It gets a little lonely after all the friends we had to leave in Florida, though we are getting as much quality time as possible with all Rob's school work.  Anyway, I guess that's enough for now, this got a little longer than I planned. 

Good morning!  Well life has been interesting getting into the swing of things.  There really hasn't been any snow here since we moved here, until this morning.  It's gone now but when we woke up this morning there were about 2 inches of snow on our patio stuff.  Though I'm sure I should be excited to see snow (since it's been about 6 years!) I was less than thrilled for the implied temperature that comes with snow.  Regardless it was nice to see for a few minutes before we climbed back into our snuggly-warm bed to talk in the warmth.  There isn't alot to report yet.  Rob has had his first full week of classes and I can officially say, being a seminary wife means not seeing your husband very much!  He has lots of work, reading, papers and learning how to get back into the swing of school.  It's an adjustment, as everything is but we will make it!  I'm getting ready for my first job interview in about 2 hours.  I'm nervous and unsure but I hope and pray that after the time spent interviewing today I will know better what I am to do and want to do.  Please pray for me about the job situation, that the right ones comes.  

For now I wanted to at least give you an idea of what our place is like.  It's still got some things out of place because we have a pile of things we are going to sell, but overall it's nice and homey.  Now I get to do the fun part of decorating and painting things :)  I love trying to be creative!  Anyway, so here's what our little place looks like for now. 

 This is our little kitchen.  I really like the counters and all the pretty things though it's taking some adjusting as there are many less cupboards than our previous space.

 We have an eat-in kitchen which fits our table nicely, though we can only have 2-3 chairs at it.  We use the other two chairs at the bar on the other side of the sink.

 This is our living room, complete with my wonderful red couches!! So glad I can have those back finally!

 Our apartment is a townhouse style so the livingroom/kitchen is downstairs and bedroom/office upstairs

 Our bedroom, the good view.  You don't wanna see my side of the room...

And the office.  We originally were going to have a bed in here too but for the time being we are going to just have the couch, chair and desk while we figure out what we want to do.  Still have room for guests, they just get the pullout, which is surprisingly comfortable!

Our first month of married life

Well, one of my move resolutions... not quite like a New Year's resolution, but kinda... was to start blogging again since most everyone I/we know and love is not here with us on this adventure to share it with us.  So here it goes, my very first entry on my new blog from the cccooolllddd north of Louisville Kentucky!

So, we left Tampa on January 19, after the moving company had officially removed every piece of property that the two of us owned and drove away with it.  We went to spend the evening with my mother in Sanford, FL before we high tailed it out of our wonderful home state.  We decided that evening that we would leave about mid-morning the next day and drive to Savannah, GA for a little side trip on the way up since it only added about 30 minutes to the total drive time.  We booked a room at a local bed and breakfast, the famed 17hundred90 hotel, also supposedly haunted...  We got a suite in the guest house that had a separate sitting room and a huge garden tub as well as a steam shower.  It was beautiful!!  We went to dinner at The Old Pink House and had a lovely meal together and then my dear sweet husband took me on a private horse drawn carriage ride around the city!  It was wonderfully romantic and thankfully the carriage driver had blankets so we could snuggle and be warm, though I had no idea what cold was ahead of me!  The next morning we had a quaint breakfast and then leisurely wandered the streets of the city exploring little shops, drinking coffee and chatting wonderful day or so spent wandering the streets of Savannah, GA.  What a cool little place! I can't wait to go back a visit, maybe in the springtime.

After 12 hours of driving, and running into some pretty difficult weather, we arrived in Louisville (pronounced Looaville) on Sunday, Jan  22 @ 2:30am and finally got some sleep.  Some friends of good friends of ours, have been here in Louisville for a semester already and have settled in so we went to their church on Sunday morning.  We really enjoyed the service and met some really great people.  One thing we have noticed already is people in Kentucky are really friendly!  Everyone is so happy to help you out with anything and every place we have gone into have given us free stuff for it being our first time there.  It's awesome!  So we headed out to lunch with a couple we had just met and a friend Rob had met during preview day in the spring last year to this really awesome barbeque place called Mark's feed house, a Louisville staple.  It was so yummy!  Good food and great conversation with some new friends.  

We spent the next few days catching up on sleep, getting acclimated to the seminary campus and looking for houses and jobs.  After 4 solid days of searching, looking at apartments, houses and driving up and down streets looking for the right home for us, we settled on a 2/1.5 townhouse about 5-10 minutes from campus (I'll post pictures when the furniture comes in).   We are now living in our very own first place in Louisville, though at the moment we have a suitcase each and an inflatable mattress to sleep on.  Our furniture and the rest of our stuff should be coming in Monday so only 2 more nights on the floor and then we should be truly getting settled in.  Now the final step in making it home... A JOB.  Praying that I will get some answers on my resume soon and that the Lord will give us the right job to provide for what we need.  I know He is faithful and will provide all our needs according to his will.  Please pray with me that these last few details fall into place and we can really begin to make our house and lives here our home.