Pictures of our New Apartment!

Baby has lots of closet space!

Soon to be baby's room :-)

Fun guest bathroom

Pantry on top, blankets and towels on bottom

The biggest closet I've ever had!

Our cute bathroom! I love that I got to pick the curtain when my husband wasn't around ;-)

One view of our bedroom

Our bedroom :-)

All of the boxes my sweet husband gets to break down when he gets here :-) This is in the living room

Looking out from the kitchen

Inside the kitchen

Dining area and our sweet little kitchen

Awesome New Adventures!

It has been a whirlwind this past week, BUT I have vowed to not get too busy for blogging :-)

I am in TEXAS! I can literally hardly believe it, it's been so surreal for me; I keep wondering when vacation is going to end. But it's NOT!

The weather has been a bit of a shock. It's one thing to be here and adjust as the heat gradually starts taking over, but to go from cold to hot and humid right away has actually been hard. I forgot what it was like to sweat all the time, for putting on makeup to be pointless, and for everything I drink to pour sweat and get warm right away. But I wouldn't have it any other way - I LOVE the heat! (Now my apartment needs to open up the darn pool so I can lay out!) Boss isn't really sure what to think of the heat. I took him on a short walk yesterday afternoon and on our way back he spotted a shady place in the grass and just laid down like he'd had enough. Ha poor guy.

I still look back to the Sunday Rob and I were in Dallas after our honeymoon. I remember being in Gateway Church and Emmie and I cried together because we knew it was the last time we'd see each other for a very long time, and it stunk! She said to me to come home soon, and I cried even more thinking Texas would never be home again. I know without a doubt I am right where I'm supposed to be. It almost feels like home. Just need Rob to get here now, and it WILL feel like home.

Everything seems to be falling into place and I'm loving it. God has already tremendously blessed us! I promise I will get pictures posted soon :-)

New adventures, new beginnings, knowing God is true and His word never fails us. Excited, excited, excited!

Malachi 3:10-11

¹⁰ Bring all the tithes into the storehouse,
That there may be food in My house,
And try Me now in this,”
Says the LORD of hosts,

“ If I will not open for you the windows of heaven
And pour out for you such blessing
That there will not be room enough to receive it.
¹¹ “ And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes,
So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground,
Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,”
Says the LORD of hosts;
¹² And all nations will call you blessed,
For you will be a delightful land,”
Says the LORD of hosts.

Celebrations

Today I have been married 6 months already! Six months in dating or engagement time draaaags on, but not so with married time. I am so in love with the man I married. I see him becoming more of the man God made him to be each day. He has grown in such exponential ways in his relationship with the Lord, and with me. He is the most selfless person I know and he loves me absolutely unconditionally. I don't know what I did to deserve him, but golly praise God for bringing him into my life! Love you baby!

Dancing to the Beat of a New Drum

15 weeks, 5 days.

That's a long time to be pregnant, to adjust your life and diet to being pregnant, and feel completely disconnected.

That's the place I've been in. Being in Canada, I couldn't get any medical care. So I never got the opportunity for that early ultrasound to SEE the evidence. I never had morning sickness, I can still run and do all the exercise I was doing before. Just no more margaritas, and a few other minor adjustments. So for 15 weeks and 5 days I've been emotional and I've been growing out of my clothes, and it's felt like for no good reason.

Rob's family doctor graciously allowed us to make an appointment to come in and hear the baby's heartbeat yesterday. I've been praying and asking God to change my heart, change the way I'm viewing this, let me be excited, have some sort of connection!

So I laid there with Rob next to me, and she put the Doppler up to my belly, and immediately we heard a strong, fast drumming. Our baby's heartbeat! We also heard 'swooshing' noises, which the doctor said was the baby moving around! And it was like my own heart began to dance to the beat of this new drum. There really was another life growing inside of me, and a transformation happened in me. I can't stop thinking about that sound. I can't stop touching my belly! After 15 weeks and 5 days, a miracle has happened in my heart.

Comfort From My Dog

Last night I was sitting on my bed after folding laundry and my dog Boss was laying at my feet. I was looking at him and thinking about how easy his life was. He didn't have a care in the world. He knew I would feed him if he got hungry, he knows I'm gonna love him and play with him, and that I'll take him outside to do his thing. He didn't have to worry about money, or working, or any of those things.

And I began to cry. (please, blame it on the pregnancy hormones)

So I crawled over next to Boss and lay beside him. Now Boss seems to care very much about my well being. He snuggles with me when I'm sad, and when I cry, he feels it's his duty to lick my tears away. Really, he does this every time. So I laid there, and he licked away at my tears, and in that moment God spoke to me.

Yes, God used my dog to speak to me. God will use anything :-)

It was as if God Himself were wiping away my tears and telling me that it's going to be okay, everything is going to work out. Your tears and your sorrow may last for the night, but joy is coming.

I am so thankful for the little things God uses to speak comfort to me.

A Heart Trusting in Him

I wrote this on April 26th. The next day we got approved for our apartment. God answers a heart that fully trusts in Him!

The move is in less than 3 weeks and we have no definite apartment yet. But it's been that way for us since the very beginning. Before I initially moved up here last year, I didn't have a place to live until a few days prior. Then, before we got married, the place we would have lived in fell through and we were without a place to live, until a week before I came to Oklahoma for the wedding. It worked out other times, so I'm surprisingly not worried in the least bit. It will work out again.

God is great :-)

Here is a verse I read today from Psalm 107:4-9, and it really speaks hope to me and Rob. We've felt like we've been in this wilderness, and this isn't where we are supposed to dwell. It's been very, very difficult. Yet we've never ceased to cry out to the Lord, and He is answering us out of our distresses. He is leading us to our dwelling place. Truly, He satisfies the longing soul. Be encouraged today :-)

They wandered in the wilderness in a desolate way;
They found no city to dwell in.
Hungry and thirsty,
Their soul fainted in them.
Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble,
And He delivered them out of their distresses.
And He led them forth by the right way,
That they might go to a city for a dwelling place.
Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness,
And for His wonderful works to the children of men!
For He satisfies the longing soul,
And fills the hungry soul with goodness.

Burning Frustration

Last night my husband and I did something way epic. Being up here in Canada our situation since we got married has been, well, less than par. I could name all our frustrations, but that would be pointless and probably just make you focus on all the negative things in your own life.

More and more lately we've both been getting upset at all these little frustrations. And I mean, we pray, we talk about things, we acknowledge our pain and present it to the Lord, we try to focus on all the blessings. But I guess you get to a point where you just gotta do something dramatic.

So last night on a piece of paper we wrote down everything we were frustrated with. Everything. Including 'small' things such as our toilet only works 35% of the time. We got it all out, we prayed together, then we went outside and burned that sucker to smithereens! And we stomped it into the dust, then we kicked the dust around. Meanwhile our dog was outside with us looking confused and concerned at our little antics.

I've never been one to let little negative things affect my situation. This has been different and difficult for both of us to deal with. But we're tired of letting satan win! I think we both feel a sense of freedom today.