A much needed update!

It has been awhile since I posted. I really need to make more time to do this!

We have been quite busy these last couple of months! We have almost finished renovating the nursery but we still need to paint the monkeys on the walls. We are going with a sock monkey jungle theme and my two best friends are coming to my house in August to do the artwork. I am 31 weeks along and the baby is moving all of the time. We have had a very easy pregnancy healthwise although it has been a bit stressful!

Jared is still mowing lawns and will continue doing so for a few more weeks. We are really praying he finds a good job and fast! I don't really want to have to work after the baby is born but it looks like I will be for now. At least the baby will have a daddy at home to take care of her so we won't have to get a daycare provider and I am thankful for that. I don't like the idea of a stranger raising my baby.

We have another new addition to our family. My aunt and uncle adopted a baby boy named JT last month so there will be 2 babies at family get-togethers now. We were all very excited to meet him and his arrival was a huge surprise to all! His big sister, who is 7, is the most excited of all!

Alot of my friends have become mom's in the last few months as well so it seems as though we are surrounded by babies. It has been awhile since we were home in Ogallala to visit so my brother and I are headed out there soon while my husband Jared is on a bachelor fishing trip with his best friend. Then soon after we have a baby shower and a wedding and then hopefully we will be settling down for a little while before the baby is born!

We are very ready to meet our baby girl! Jared says that he want's to be able to hold her because I have been hogging her for the last 7 months. I told him that if I could share this job I totally would!!! But even though we are excited to meet her it is wierd to think that I am old enough to be a mom. I still don't feel like I am old enough to be married! It is amazing how quickly time flies! I remember when we got engaged and I thought it was going to be forever before we were finally married! Now I kind of wish time would slow down and even though I want this baby out and in my arms I am kind of hoping that we are able to stop and enjoy the time that we have left as just a newlywed couple.

To speak or not to speak

I feel bad when I don't post on here in a long time but I always manage to console myself by saying only 3 people read it anyways!

Today I heard tragic news. A young girl in Hastings was killed last night by a drunk driver. She was a friend of my husbands cousin. Another of my friends responded to the call. Many of my friends knew her. There is a lot of hurt happening right now so I just praying that I can have the right words or, as was my case when I was in this situation, the correct lack of words. It is hard to know what to say when things like this happen. Everyone deals with grief in a different way. I like to hide and not talk for a really long time. Others like to remember the people that are gone. The most important thing that I learned was not to say anything at all unless asked. Never say it is going to be alright because nothing is alright when life has been dramatically changed or stolen! I pray that the right words and the right silences will be given to me so I can be there for my friends.

A historic day...

Does anyone else find it strange that everyone keeps talking about this being a pivotal moment in history? As if previous inaugurations have not been momentous? I agree that it is amazing that we have come so far in the last 40 years so that we can elect an African American to the oval office but is that really what any of this should be about? If we really are supposed to look beyond color and race and only see people then why is it constantly being thrown in our face that he is a black man and no other president has been? Does that make those former presidents and founding fathers and less notable and honorable? It is wonderful for America that we can elect a man and not worry about the color of his skin, however, that is not what an election is for! We should have been watching the inauguration thinking about how this is going to change the nation for the better or worse not about the color of the mans skin. Hooray for the African American race, that they are finally being treated equally....oh wait, I've been doing that my whole life. I think it's about time we all get back to what actually matters here, policy and moral standard. I couldn't give one flying flip whether he was black, white or purple! I want a president who will fight for the moral majority and not for the left-wing, morally bankrupt minority! I am upset that this election has fallen to the left wing but I am confident that God has a plan and that even if we did not support him in the election, we must support him now through our prayers. It will do no America any good to speak ill of the President or his Party. Prayer is our strongest weapon! Let's use it!

Topsy Turvy

This month has given us some suprises so far. We are halfway into January and barely into a new year and we are looking into some major changes in our little family. Jared's company has had setbacks for the last few months and just had a lay-off. Unfortunately Jared was a part of that lay-off and he is now job-hunting and looking into other options. Until this, the economic downturn of the nation hadn't really affected us but now we are acutely aware of how bad things are getting. On the plus side, I am learning how to budget meals better and Jared is learning all about budgets and cutbacks. We are trying to look at this as an oppurtunity, maybe for him to go back to school and maybe just as a jumpstart to changing careers. Luckily for him, I am a positive thinker and I have no worries because I know God always cares for His own. Prayers are always appreciated although I don't know what I should be asking for just yet. I will keep you filled in!