Backyard

Aaron and I really REALLY like backyards....and as many of you know, our Cherokee house had a HUGE backyard! We absolutely LOVED it but knew that it wasn't feasible when we moved to Mankato. However, we kept telling our realtor, "We want some sort of a backyard". Well, when we looked at our house for the first time, we fell in love with the backyard! Sure it's on a busy street and isn't as big as our other one, but we still have loved the solitude we've had in this backyard already! Ahhh....grilling, sitting on our swing, eating outside, listening to our mini pond....it is GREAT :) In fact, I'm going to hop off this computer and enjoy it a little more.

Growing Pains

This past week has been all about growing pains....both physically and spiritually. And, while I don't always "like" growing pains, I love the outcome after having those pains.

Obviously, physically I can feel things stretching and Baby Willey is growing and moving :) I often feel like I've done 50 sit ups (or, to exaggerate, 1000!) because my stomach hurts that much :) Haha...while I hurt from these growing pains, I KNOW that they will be so worth it in the end and therefore I'm grateful for them :)

More painful and yet wonderful is when you have growing pains spiritually. I asked the Lord to reveal things to me of what I need to work on and I was humbled by my lack of love and forgiveness. It's hurt as I've been trying to forgive and love those who have wronged me, however, these growing pains are already making me realize more what God continually does over and over for us. He forgives and LOVES unconditionally....why did I think I could hold grudges when God doesn't? I pray that I would not become a bitter person but I could continue to forgive just as God forgives us.

*sigh* Those are my thoughts lately....life is good and Aaron and I are enjoying just a few weeks off before he goes back into the intense studying again. Hope you all are having an incredible Monday :)

Anniversary Date

We've never really had a "perfect situation" for an anniversary date but at the same time, I wouldn't want it any differently :) The other years we had things going on but we celebrated before or after the fact, but this year we looked at the date and looked when Aaron had his last HUGE final for the summer...yep, you got it...July 23 meaning July 22 would be his big study night :) If there is one thing I have learned in marriage it is flexibility is KEY and you HAVE to make the most out of every opportunity!
That morning we got our mail to discover our realtor had sent us an Olive Garden gift certificate as a thank you for working with him! Woah! Guess where we ate? Uh huh, got it again...our fave place Olive Garden :)
After our early supper, we got home and Aaron and I started the studying :) 4 hours later of quality time talking about microbiology and we ended our "anniversary date" Haha...it really was a really fun anniversary :)
I suppose you could say that the real celebration was Aaron taking his last final and receiving amazing news last night that he had gotten an "A" in the class! :) He took two incredibly hard classes this summer and we have heard that they are the "deciding classes" if you will get into the Nursing program or not. We are so thankful that he received an "A" in both the classes! Thank you, Lord!

This morning, I was thinking about how encouraging this news was and how "we're for sure going to be able to stay in Mankato" and "Aaron will for sure get into the Nursing Program". I was hit hard as I was saying these "for sure" things as we never know "for sure" what will happen in life.

This week I have been reminded about that SO much as we received word that one of our dear friends from Cherokee was experiencing severe dizziness and they found a tumor on his brain. We don't know all the details but we are praying SO diligently for Bobby, Jenna, and their two little kids in this situation. If you could lift our dear friends up to the Lord with us, I know they would greatly appreciate it!

We never know what is going to happen in our life but the "for sure" thing I am holding onto today is that God IS faithful and He IS good. And that is all the "for sure" things I need to know right now.

Happy 4 Years!

It is our 4 year anniversary!! Can you believe it? I know I sure can't! Sometimes it feels like yesterday that we were getting married, stepping into the great unknown called marriage but in other ways, I can't remember what it's like to NOT be married. *sigh* The most unexpected and greatest surprise of marriage has been the friendship that we have formed over the last 4 years. Some beautiful love stories include the couple being best friends first and their friendship leading into a dating and marriage relationship.

Our story, however, was Aaron literally sweeping me off my feet, dating for less than a year before getting engaged, and being long distance for our entire engagement. We knew each other and loved each other but our deep friendship really started on this day 4 years ago. And I love having Aaron as my best friend, my confidant, and my companion. It has been a wonderful 4 years as we have been getting to know each other and sharing in life's joys and struggles. Marriage is a gift and I pray that I would not take my marriage for granted. I love you, Aaron :)

Some favorite moments of the day 4 years ago:
"Surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses"

Waking up to the PERFECT Summer day!

Sharing moments with my beautiful bridesmaids...they made my day extra special!

Adoring my little cousins who added spunk as they rang bells and declared "The bride is coming!" Now they are growing up and becoming beautiful young ladies :)

Having my cousin's daughter stand as my flower girl...again she is growing up before my eyes into a beautiful and godly young lady

And who could forget my personal attendants....yes, I had 5 and they were WONDERFUL!

*sigh* Happy Anniversary to my Love

Boy or Girl?

Not to brag *cough* :), but I have a pretty good track record of guessing what gender of baby a couple is going to have. I don't know if it's intuition or just really good educated guesses, but I've only been wrong a couple times. And, I've had alot of practice as I've seen friend after friend have kids!

So, now it's our turn....I have a really good idea of what I'm having and have tried all the old wive's tales and they confirmed my intuition.....however, we don't find out for a few weeks so you can vote what you think we're having in my nifty little poll on the right side of our blog! Happy guessing and I'll let you know in a few weeks if I can chalk up another victory for my gender guessing ability :)

P.S. And no, I'm not giving you any hints of which I think it is :)

P.P.S. The poll is not working properly right now but I would love to hear guesses in our comment section!

Our Little House

We are homeowners! We were reminded about that on Friday when our sewer backed up! We couldn't believe it but believe me, we were laughing about it because it reminded us of the responsibility of owning a home and we are LOVING it again!! And, it was a quick fix thankfully!

Taking pics of what it looks like now would require a few more boxes put away and cleaning which I don't have the energy to do right now so here's a few before we moved in:

Extra Bedroom

Dining Room

Part of the kitchen! I have a kitchen again!

Living Room beforeLiving Room AfterWe are so thankful for this little house!

Sadie-The Antisocial Dog

(Sadie as a puppy...what a cutie!)

I seriously just LOVE my dog.....she's so stinkin' cute and LOVES people! Once she gets the initial bark out of the way when you come to the door, she will warm into your heart with her puppy dog eyes and sweet demeanor.

However......

Sadie despises other dogs. What did we do wrong as dog parents?? Haha :) She has gotten into the habit of barking at people who walk by and especially people who have dogs with them. It wasn't a big deal when we were living with Aaron's parents but our new house is on a busy street where people walk their dogs every night and every one is out and about.....something that we're LOVING about our new neighborhood!

But, our dog sounds like she's going to eat all our new friends SO, we decided that we needed to retrain her and socialize her.

We're on Day Three and so far, so good!!! We've been rewarding her like mad when she just watches people walk by and today she made her first "doggy friend"...our neighbor's dog. It's a little tiring as I've had to sit by her side and be very very patient with her......maybe a teeny tiny glimpse into parenthood? Nah.....this is a piece of cake compared to that :)

But, hopefully in a few weeks, I can say Sadie:The very Social Dog! :)

So About That Baby Bump.....

It's here!! See??

Today I had my 16 week appointment and Junior sounds GREAT! He/she is moving like crazy and I'm starting to feel it which is sooooo much fun! I'll update soon about our house.....I have fallen in love with this little cozy house already! Happy Wednesday!