Highlights of 2011

1. In January, the Lord blessed us tremendously with a beautiful new home! By the grace of God, we were able to fix it up enough to move in at the end of February--we are oh so thankful for all those that came and helped us paint, strip wallpaper, tear down the kitchen wall, and help with plumping, electrical, etc. Although we did finish a lot of the house projects prior to moving in, it is still a work in progress! Hopefully, over 2012, we'll be able to refinish the floors, build a laundry room, put corner round in, & continue making our house a home!




2. Between being pregnant & fixing up a house, I also experienced the loss of two family members within a month's time. My uncle David passed away of a sudden heart attack in Dec. of 2010 and my grandfather passed away in his sleep in Jan. 2011. Never having lost someone so immediate to my family, this was a difficult time for me & my entire family.


My uncle is in the top right corner.

Last picture with my Grandpa Kay.

3. At the beginning of March, we celebrated the marriage of our dear friends, Matt & Megan Harris! We were so excited to be apart of their special day!





4. At the beginning of April, we discovered that my husband has Celiac's disease. Ever since I had met him, he was having horrible migraines & stomach problems pretty consistently. One day, he thought maybe I'm allergic to wheat or something. He had an old roommate who had the same the same situation and he was diagnosed with Celiac's. So, low and behold, it was wheat/gluten causing him all of these issues! So...since April, we have been cooking completely gluten-free! It's been a journey and still is! But, I've realized that its definitely not as hard as its seemed to be at first and its also making us eat healthier! Although it can be challenging sometimes to cook GF, we are so thankful that he is feeling so much better!

5. Right about the same time we discovered that James has Celiac's Disease, we also discovered that our house was infested with brown recluse spiders! So, James and some other men from our church bombed our house GOOD, (I mean there was a bomb in every room!) and somehow by the grace of God, they all disappeared! Since I was pregnant, I was not able to participate in this "bombing" event--and I was verrrrrry thankful for that! :)

6. In the spring, we were gearing up for the baby due in June. So, we decided to take a childbirth class called the Bradley Method. And for all the momma's & dada's to be out there, I highly recommend this class! It was a 6-week thing where we learned all about relaxing through contractions, good nutrition, what to expect at the hospital, terminology, heard lots of good stories from our older & wiser mother of 4, grandmother of 8 instructor, and overall calmed our nerves for the approaching labor. I really enjoyed our time during the Bradley Method class.

7. Finally, we welcomed a beautiful baby girl June 21st. Lydia Joy was 8lbs 13 oz & 21 inches long! The labor was LONG (70 hours) & HARD, but God was good and protected me and the baby. We are so thankful for his grace & his blessing of our little sweet bundle of joy.







8. Two weeks after Lydia was born, we were able to again celebrate the marriage of great friends! Although it was crazy hectic with a newborn, it was SO good to be apart of Casey & Paula's special day. :)



9. The following week in July, James and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary! We weren't able to do much to celebrate, but we did rope the grandparents into babysitting for a couple hours while we ate at our favorite restaurant, The Cheesecake Factory!! :-) I'm really bummed, but I didn't get a picture at all on our anniversary. I don't think I was quite in the mood for pictures since only having a baby 3 weeks before! ;)

10. Right before school started back up, James and I and the baby were able to take a much-needed mini-vacation to a cabin called the Lean-on Lodge. For those of you in ministry, I would highly recommend this place and its free to you! James and I got to relax, watch movies, and fish A LOT! It was such fun for me because I didn't know at all how to fish and it was a good bonding experience with the hubby! We caught several and even deep-fried some of them for dinner!





Starting in August, our life slowed down a lot thankfully. We continued to work with the school at Neighborhood Fellowship and other families in the neighborhood, adjusted to life with a baby, and spent time with family during the holidays!



Praying the Lord with continue to grow us in grace & knowledge in 2012!

Be Careful What You Ask For......

I found this great website called sittercity.com and what happens is parents post a childcare need & sitters post their profile and can apply to these nanny/babysitting jobs that come up in your area. Its great because parents can really screen the candidates by looking at sitters' profiles and if they want, they can buy a background check for the sitter. I love it because I can pick and choose what jobs I want to apply for based on the pay, where its located, how many children, and what kind of childcare they're really looking for (nanny, afterschool, date nights, etc).

Well, I've been praying about working, just to add a little to the income & so I'm not bored to death every day at home by myself. So, I made a Sittercity profile just to see what opportunities would come of it. Well, I applied to three jobs, all of which had low committment, paid REALLY well, and were within 10 miles of my house. Within 24 hours, I got responses from all three moms wanting me to come meet them and their children in the same week. I was a little overwhelmed. For some reason, I didn't think every "job" would work out. So, I told one mom no, because it was too far, but I told the other two mom's, "Okay, I'll meet with you." Today, I met with two moms and it looks like I have 5 babysitting jobs within ONE WEEK!! I really had no idea what I was getting myself into....

The first mom has three kids, 3, 1, and 2 months. She definitely has her hands full. For a couple days this week, I am just helping her around the house, but mostly keeping her kids occupied while she gets things done. She's not a believer and has a very different lifestyle & method of raising children. However, I do LOVE all the IKEA furniture & home decor she has in her house.

James & I both met with the second mom and her fiance at Panera this evening. Their daughter is 5 months old and she is such a cutie! James & I were highly impressed with this couple and their daughter. They covered all the bases, plus more! I was amazed that she said it is completely okay if James and I both watch their daughter sometimes; they actually encouraged it. They are getting married in Costa Rica on the beach in Jan. (so cool!) and a lot of their family is flying down to see the wedding! I'm really looking forward to watching their daughter, Sage, on Thursday night and getting to know them as a family.

I pray that the Lord leads with both of these non-believing families. If its only temporary, let it be; but if He wants a friendship with these families to grow & last, I pray that I will be a light to them.

I'm thankful for both of these opportunities this week, especially for the money! But, I will say be careful what you ask for...because you might just get that & more!

July 17, 2010

Jockamo's Pizza

Today has been a good & productive day. I ran errands. I helped two middle schoolers with their spelling & vocabulary homework. I taught the Spanish alphabet to six elementary students and they actually really enjoyed it...more than I thought they would, thats for sure! I went to Goodwill and found an AWESOME big basket for only $3 to hold all of our library books & CDs. I decided it wasn't a good idea to mix them in the bookshelves. I was able to sneak into Afterschool and see a few kiddos from the summer! I just love, LOVE, love children from the city, there's something about them that makes them way cuter, funnier, & way more entertaining! I'm so thankful that the Lord gave me a partner that agrees wholeheartedly and I'm so thankful that the Lord put us both right in the heart of the city, where there is a need to love children and feed them the gospel. We're so blessed.

I had such a pleasant surprise today. A lady from my church asked me last week when I could have lunch with her out of the blue & for no particular reason. She just wanted to get to know me. I knew that we were going to go out for lunch, her treat, but I had no idea she wanted to take me to Jockamo's Pizza. Jockamo's Pizza is this little cute hole-in-the-wall place next to boutique shops & Starbucks. I have been wanting to go to Jockamo's Pizza for a LONG, LONG, LONG time. I mean every since I started working/living on the near eastside of Indy. And this has been 2 years. Everyone rants and raves about how good their pizza is and everytime James & I drive by I always say something about how I've ALWAYS wanted to go there and I give him a little pouty lip hoping we could just park the car and go in no matter what time it is. Everytime, James just looks at me and smiles and says "Someday when we're rich..." The Lord blessed me beyond belief today for two reasons. A.) to eat Jockamo's Pizza. (which was delicious!) B.) to have someone willing to invest their time, energy, & money in me and want to get know me as a sister in christ.

God is so good. Its amazing what the Lord will bless you with when you're willing to wait. Even for Jockamo's Pizza.