4 Years

Today marks 4 years of marriage for Luke and me. It's hard to believe. It both feels like we just got married yesterday and that we've been married forever.:) It's been an awesome 4 years full of lots of joys and challenges, but most importantly lots of love. I'm so thankful for such a thoughtful and caring husband-- someone I look forward to seeing every day and to spending time with. I look forward to starting our parenting journey in the next few weeks and to many more wonderful years together!

time for an update?:)

At the demand...er...request of Marge, here is a preggo pic:

The "bump" is long gone and it's a full on belly these days. (I tried to blame it on the horizontally striped shirt I was wearing... pretty sure that would be a stretch though. Literally:). I guess that's what happens as you enter the third trimester and head down the home stretch. It's hard to believe.
Things seem to be progressing well. He (did I tell you here it's a boy? I can't remember...:) is extremely active. Particularly when I am trying to sleep. I assume this is something I should get used to.:) I'm looking forward to meeting the little man.

We have slowly been making progress around here getting rooms in order and going through things. The re-purposing of our second bedroom has taken some time since we never fully organized it after our move.

The ice storm here has given us an unexpected extra two days in our week at home with no obligations. I think God knew I could use some time to relax, get a few things done and get a little extra sleep. I'm definitely grateful for the respite. Plus tomorrow is my normal day off, so I feel like I really scored.:) 3 days off in a row rarely happens for me unless I plan it months in advance.

I was happy to find out last week that it will be possible for me to cut back to part time at my job after I have the baby. I wasn't sure this would be a possibility and had prepared myself for the worst. God has been answering a lot of prayers. It will be nice to keep my job and benefits, but still be able to spend most days with my son.

Life has been extremely busy the past several months. I had three consecutive successful open studio nights. I sold some stuff, met some people and made more than enough money to cover my studio rent. This does not always happen, so it's always encouraging and a welcome blessing.

We had a very nice Christmas. We were able to spend time with both of our families, as well as have some celebrating to ourselves. Luke surprised me with an awesome new easel! One that I both desperately needed and wanted. I love it already. It is much sturdier than my last one and has the ability to hold paintings from about 6" to 6+' if necessary. Plus it takes up less floor space in my small studio. We received all kinds of cool stuff (both for us and baby:) this year. I now have an awesome rocking chair for the baby's room. We also have a new favorite board game from Marge and Philip called Pandemic. It is a strategy board game about fighting epidemics that is played co-operatively against the game. Tons of fun.:)

the easel

bananas

I don't really like bananas and pretty much avoid eating them. But for some reason I love them in my cereal. Especially rice krispies. Is that strange? Incidentally, I've been eating a lot of cereal during my pregnancy.:) Also, doesn't the word "krispies" look really strange?:)

christmas!

I get really excited about the holidays.:) Even though I work in retail, I still love the Christmas season and all that it entails. This year I'm ahead of schedule with my shopping and I even have most things wrapped.:) We put up our tree last Friday and it makes things feel quite festive.:) We got a real tree for the first time since we've been married. Previous years we've had 3 and a half foot fake tree, so the 6+ foot tree in the living room seems pretty awesome.:) Now I need to see about getting Christmas cards out... may end up being more like New Years...:)

Hope everyone is having an enjoyable holiday season!

thanksgiving reflection

This Thanksgiving Luke and I reflected on the many things God has blessed us with this year. Our lives have changed significantly since last Thanksgiving. It's been a year of seeing Him provide for us and bring us through a difficult time. We are so thankful for a God who knows our needs and in whom we can trust for perfect timing.

Luke's job continues to be an incredible provision and we love where we are currently living. As we look forward to adding a baby to our family, we are excited to see where God leads us in the future. This year I had the opportunity to do some paying art projects and sold several pieces from my studio; it's been nice to make some money at what I truly enjoy doing and to realize that even though I don't have a lot of time to pursue art right now, God has given me this talent for a reason. These are just a few of the many things that I am thankful for this year.

We enjoyed being able to celebrate Thanksgiving with both of our families on various days. There's always lots of great food, love and laughter to go around.:) I love the holiday season (other than the fact that I work in retail:) and am so thankful for our loving families that enjoy spending time together and that are such a great encouragement and support.

a brief update

We're in the midst of what has turned into an extremely busy month and half. Thus the failure to blog.:) Among other things, there have been more social events than average, an all too brief, but fun visit to South Bend to see Stephanie and Jeremy and deliver some furniture, a painting project on a barn of the three sisters gardening technique (still not sure how I got roped into that one:), framing for new and old paintings, a couple of open studio nights and Luke working overtime as his company moves to a different building. I'm starting to feel like I'm running on fumes.:) Even though it's been a bit tough, it has been a good month. I had an unusually successful open studio night last friday sales-wise. I almost didn't go because I've been feeling a little under the weather and it wasn't a required one, but I was very glad that I made the decision to open up. Our kiddo appears to still be healthy and is becoming active.:) We find out the gender December 1st. Other than that, I'm just trying to get through these next couple busy weeks and I'm greatly looking forward to the holidays!

times are changing

As most of my small readership base has probably heard, Luke and I are expecting a kiddo mid-April. This weekend marks the end of my first trimester, which sounds pretty good to me.:) Aside from being extremely tired and obnoxiously hungry most of the time, I really can't complain too much about how I've been feeling. We're pretty pumped about this new phase of life and while right now I'm missing being able to take ibuprofen and my sleep supplement and being able to drink (let's face it, open-studio nights without wine and football without beer just aren't the same:) I know it's for the kid, so that makes it definitely worth it. Plus there have been a few perks like not having to lift boxes at work and being allowed to snack guilt free.:) Here's to the second trimester!:)