anyone else looking forward to november?

i have been a neglectful blogger as of late. BUT it's ok, because I have some valid excuses:

1. busy finishing up my BA degree (which was done successfully might I add!) which also included a wonderful BBQ celebration at our house and our first official bonfire of the season

2. i have officially started garage sale season. 2 down, many more to go!

3. I suppose this is my favourite of the reasons, I wasn't blogging because I couldn't write about what was mostly on my mind... having a baby!

Yup, it's true. I am feeling overwhelmingly wonderful. Seeing the 2 pink lines was the most surreal moment of my life. since then, I've realized that being pregnant is such a humbling experience! That I would be given the privilege of having a baby of my own! With the person I love the most in this world! We are thrilled. 

I am now officially 12 weeks, and feel like I can shout it down the street! I am so thankful that this baby is growing, that he or she is healthy, and that next week Michael & I will get to hear the heartbeat. I have been humbled yet again at the excitement that our family and friends have for us. Excitement and support. Hugs, gifts, texts, emails, shouting responses. It has all been so wonderful.

Today my baby is the size of a lime. How amazing! 

I can now hardly wait for November 8th. But am loving the experience so far (although, I could do without the new acne prone skin, the going to the washroom about 3 times a night, and the constant hunger.. but I'm not complaining! I'll take it all!) and can hardly wait to start showing. Since right now I just look normal.. and it'd be nice to look how I feel. Does that make sense? 

Today hasn't been a great day, just one of those days where you wake up feeling sad for no real reason, and then different parts of the day not working to change the mood much. However, I am still happy over all, what with this new life growing in me. Nothing else seems to matter quite as much. 

Here's a couple pictures :)

 the moment everything in life changed!

our announcement card that we gave to our families & some friends!

now to wait till november!! :)

coming to the end of a chapter

Yesterday afternoon I officially had my LAST UNIVERSITY CLASS EVER!

I can hardly believe it.
I was even kind of sad about it as I drove away.
There is something wonderful about sitting in a classroom, learning and taking notes.
I won't miss assignments, and textbook readings.. midterms & exams though.
Nor will I miss the cost of tuition..

I can hardly believe that finally, 4 years after graduating "short" and feeling the discouragement of spending 4 years of full time school in something that now just overwhelmed me... 4 years later, I feel like I have redeemed that lost degree, and all the work that went into it, and on April 22nd I will have a diploma with my name on it!

I am going to walk across that graduating stage proudly, even if no one chose to come (although I know that I will have people there!). I did this for ME. And I'm proud of that.

People have been asking me lately what I will do now that I'm done my degree.. will I put it to use?
Well, not technically I suppose. Although I feel like a lot of what I learned in university can just be applied in life in general. But no, I will not be looking for a new job. I love my job! Running the ins & out of the church office that I work at is very fun for me. I love all the organization, and the fact that I get to order things from Staples on a regular basis (I am one of those people that loves school supply shopping.. even if I'm not going to school.. I always have to refrain from buying another pack of markers or pens, or even looseleaf! In a world that uses so much technology there is something so wonderfully simple about writing with pencil - non mechanical even - on looseleaf. Try it, it's simple bliss). I enjoy the staff that I work with, and I love the hours!

Plus, my DREAM is to one day have 2 jobs - one as a mom, and the other, working with my Mom at Women Refreshed at the Well. Plus by then I'll be living beside josh & leah. Could life get any better than that?!

So the simple answer is .. no. I won't be doing anything specific with my degree now that it's done. However, I will be celebrating the fact that I decided to just get over myself and go back to finish it.

One exam left (next Friday) and then I will be DONE.

how wonderful :)

birthdays, colds & rainy days.

spring is here - at least that's how I feel with this rainy day

we got home from our trip to Florida on Friday to a wonderful surprise - all of the snow is gone! It made coming home a little easier, but truthfully, I could've easily stayed for another week or two. Laying by the pool, reading novels, visiting with family, waking up to see Everett & Roger, enjoying 30 + weather. Can't complain :)

However, coming home from Florida was good to, mostly because there is no bed as comfortable as ours at home! We flew home on Friday - my birthday! Nothing like being up and about at 3am on your birthday! The airplane gave me a gift.. a nasty cold. One of the worst I have had in years. I think it was a combination of being up early and needing more sleep, then having the air conditioning and air blowing on me on the plane.. etc. etc. For whatever reason, it was given to me as a gift and it is terrible.

Last night as I was trying to fall asleep I was terrified that I would be unable to breathe at night. My nose was so stuffed up, that if I went to swallow, it was like it closed my soft palate or something, and I kind of choked for a breath. Has that ever happened to anyone?? So I wandered around the house, collecting pillows so I could be nicely propped up. However, after 2 hours of trying to sleep at that angle, I gave up and used some more nasal spray, jammed some kleenex up my nose and hoped that sleep would come. It did.. eventually, but being back at work today has not been pleasant. I could've used a few more hours. And you always know you're looking great when the first thing someone says to you is "oh. are you sick??"

Oh well. In about 20 minutes I'm going to Pineridge Hollow with my dear friend Audrey to celebrate our birthdays. It will be cozy in there as we watch the rain and catch up. My cold won't ruin that!

I'm 27 now. That is very close to 30! It sounds old to me, but also not really at all. I think it only feels old when I think about the fact that Michael is 23. To be honest, I don't really feel a year older. Each year, birthdays seem to be less and less of an "event", in the way it was when I was younger. I also noticed last year when it was my first birthday off of facebook, that when people don't recognize your birthday it feels less like an "event". All of the friends that would've sent me a one line happy birthday message on facebook didn't send me anything because no one (except me I think) uses a calendar. Another sad reality of social networking. I was thinking about it though, as maturely as I could, that the emails and phone calls and texts that I did get on my birthday were from people who genuinely thought of me! And that is actually more special to me than the 100 one line messages I used to get on Facebook because it appeared on people's screens as a reminder that it was my day. I also realized that there are people who's birthdays I don't remember or recognize since I left facebook because we just don't communicate on a regular basis, so it's not that I actually expected (or even hoped) that I would get all of those messages. Is this making sense?? All that to say, I got only a handful of birthday messages and greetings, but each one was personal and meaningful, and I am very thankful for each one.

We celebrated on my actual birthday with our cousins Chris, Emilee & Chloe while watching the jets game and eating pizza & treatzza pizza from DQ. Then Sunday evening was spent with the Thiessen's. Next Friday is my supper/party with my family. I would say my favorite gift around birthdays is just being with family and friends. Anything else is just a bonus. (And I have received some of the best gifts ever thus far...)

Now I am rambling. I blame it on my cold!

In summary: I am a year older - 27 - 3 years away from 30 and happy to be it. I am loving this rainy weather, and would love to be snuggled up reading a book. I am very thankful for family & friends. And I am very much looking forward to my afternoon with Audrey :)

relaxing in florida

it's 11:30am here in florida and we're coming to the end of a wonderful family vacation

we leave early on Friday morning (my birthday!) and already it seems too soon

i love family vacations - lots of time to be together, lots of time for reading (i just finished my book yesterday - a thousand splendid suns). This trip we also went to disney world , hollywood studios and sea world. we may go back to disney today or tomorrow and maybe animal kingdom.. we're playing it by ear.

I have spent many hours sitting by the pool, chatting with everett and watching him learn how to swim on his own (with water wings) This trip has also given us a lot of time with Roger, which is always awesome. 

Now I'm sitting here outside at our patio set, while josh reads & roger sleeps. Mom, Dad & Everett are on a nature walk, and I think Mike & Leah are doing the dishes. Life is good. Today it is feeling a little cooler though, and I just spotted a big grey cloud over the pool.. good thing we already went swimming today! I guess the cool weather is why the hot tub was invented :)

Here are just a few of the pictures so far:

this is where I'm writing from - at the table with the pool in the background

 our first day at disney. Mike & Everett each got "1st visit" buttons to wear, and they were pretty excited about all that was coming up!

 just hanging out with my sweet nephew Roger

 big blue eyes just like his brother (and his auntie!)

 this car in our backyard here has been a big hit. Everett 

goes to "store" or "work" and always makes sure to wave goodbye to everyone. normally we give him a list of things that we'd like him to buy and give him some "money"

 our house & cars

 mom & me outside the house

 mike at disney

us at the magic kingdom in front of the princess castle

more pictures to come I'm sure!! :)

slightly OCD

So I have been realizing lately that I am a bit OCD about somethings.
there are things that I have to do a certain way or just habits that I have created.
Not a big deal, but kind of interesting.

So far none of them are really life altering in a major way, so they are more just quirky I guess..

the first one that comes to mind is this: toilet paper
I am a "over hang" type of toilet paper girl. You know, when you put it on the holder. I like the roll to have the free end hanging over the roll. If it's under, then you are spinning it and not realizing that you're putting all kinds of great toilet paper onto the floor! Also, with my cats, I'm sure they would have a grand time emptying the whole roll (although they feel that way about toilet paper no matter how you hang it). I am so "into" this way of hanging toilet paper that - I will admit - I have, from time to time, changed it if I encounter a roll that is "under". I've done this at work, at stores, gas stations, family members houses and friends houses. So I guess I should formally apologize to anyone who's toilet paper roll I have changed, when they purposefully hung it the other way. It's a bit of an OCD thing...

The next one is this... when I set my alarm at night I am always worried that I'm going to accidentally set it to radio instead of beeping alarm. And I don't wake up to the radio, the song just becomes part of my dream. Also, with my alarm clock, the volume setting that you need to use to hear the radio makes the alarm ear splittingly loud. It is horrible. I have made that mistake and almost made myself deaf. Not a fun way to wake up. So, the button on the side of my alarm clock is like this: OFF - RADIO - ALARM - SET, 4 different spots. So, what I do is this, pull it all the way to the SET position. Double check that it is the right time (even though I almost never change it.. ever) and then I move the button eleven times back and forth until I am SURE it is on ALARM. I have tried not doing it 11 times. But I have developed some what of a rhythm. Every night Michael laughs at me, but I have to do it!! Also, I have to do it right before I go to sleep. If I do it sooner than that, my whole routine is off and I'm sure I must have lost my mind and set it to Radio. So I start the process again. Ridiculous actually...

And third - the one that got me thinking of this post today. I LOVE having an empty inbox. In both my personal email, my work email and my work inbox with mail & to-do things etc. Especially with email - the more full my inbox is, the higher my over all stress level. An empty inbox.. bliss! I leave emails in my inbox only until I have replied to them, or if it's about a date or a get together, I will wait till I go home and write it on the calendar before archiving it. Currently my gmail account has 19 emails in the inbox, one from over a month and a half ago.. and I'm going a little nutty! Good thing life is about more than inboxes, toilet paper and alarms.. right?? :)

Embrace who I am, that's what I figure!

What are your weird habits?