"Enjoy this time..."

I read a blog post recently from someone else who is "in the waiting", and she made a comment that I can totally relate to. For some reason, when you are waiting to have a child for longer than normal, it seems like everyone in the world has one piece of advice for you: "Enjoy the time you have as just a couple."

Now, I must admit that these have not always been exactly the comforting words I wanted to hear. There have been times when I have had to bite my tongue, grit my teeth, and smile...because I know that the words were not meant to hurt, but to help. Sometimes it's hard to have that perspective right now, but lately I have been thinking a lot about this period of our life, and I have come to be so thankful for the here and now.

It is so easy to always be looking forward to the next thing, whether it be going away to college, or getting married...or having children. To think that when I get to that point, then life can really begin. Our Pastor actually gave a sermon about this very topic on Sunday night to the graduates going away to college. It struck home with me because it is the very thing I have been thinking about.

"Wherever you are, be all there." - Jim Elliot, missionary

This has been a favorite quote of mine since high school. With the adoption and the infertility, it has become easy to miss the beauty of this time in our lives. It is wonderful to be just me and Brad :) We have been able to get to know each other in a much deeper way these last few years, and every single day I look forward to coming home to him. Life is full, and we are blessed with family and friends and opportunities to serve...and I don't want to miss this because I am just looking forward to what lies ahead. Do I ache for my baby? Yes. Am I learning to surrender that? Yes.

So that's why I haven't been blogging...because I am busy enjoying this time :)

As Eluded To in the Previous Post

Last weekend, a pretty exciting event happened in our lives.  

We were given a BOAT!  With an engine and everything!

It has been such a fun week as we've been getting Big Mama ready to go out (that is the boat's name by the way - I don't know why but I called her that the day we got her and now we seriously use it in every day conversation - "Don't forget to unload Big Mama!", "When can we take Big Mama out?"...it's kind of funny!)  I haven't actually been out yet, but we are getting a hitch for our car (hopefully tonight) so that we can take her out soon!  I can't wait!

(Don't worry, I am aware that boats go on water.  This was just to show you what it looks like!)

The funny thing is that I just love boats.  I didn't grow up having one or anything, or near the water, but for a special treat when we were growing up, sometimes when we were on vacation we would rent a boat similar to Big Mama (only a bit bigger to fit the whole family) and go out for the day.  I remember those times being so much fun, so I was ecstatic to think that we would have our very own boat!  

And of course, I have to share a couple of pictures from those family vacations...

This is from when I was 12 (I'm on the right in the bright yellow wind breaker.)  I love the look on my one-year-old sister, Sarah's, face...she looks like she's wondering if anybody is noticing that the life jacket is swallowing her!

Now, there were some moody teenage years for sure, but I'm pretty sure this was just a cold day!

Brad's new hobby is fishing.  He and his buddy Chad went out last Saturday and caught two fish, which Rachel deep fried for lunch - yummy!

My new hobby will be relaxing and sunbathing on my very own boat!!!!  Now if only the sun would come out again...

And the Days Go By...

We're still here!  The last few weeks have been sooooo busy that I haven't even thought about posting.  I can't really complain, though - all of the things keeping us busy are fun things, and with people we love!  Spring is flying by and the days are getting crossed off, which is good as well as it brings us that much closer to our little one!

What have we been up to?

Fireworks watching

Campsite visiting

Hotdog grilling

Catching up with family

Backyard parties

Lots of campfires

Too many smores :)

Running, rollerblading, and biking

Praying for baby

Dreaming of next summer...with baby

Wondering when we will see baby

Do you see a theme?

And a new exciting "hobby" that I will share about tomorrow.

Sunshine On My Shoulders...Makes Me Happy :)

I am loving this weather! I love being outside, grilling (or having things grilled for me!), bird watching, and just enjoying the sunshine.

My favorite room of the house...our sunroom.

Love it and have been spending tons of time there lately.

Reading some fabulous books.

Enjoying the view and watching the birdies

(even saw a humming bird this week!)

Spending time with my cute dog...

Who is sometimes crazy...

Yep, we love hanging out together in the sunroom!

Ahead of us lies a fabulous weekend - sleeping in tomorrow (glorious! and please don't feel the need to leave me any comments about how I won't be able to do that once I have a baby, because I am just sure that my baby will sleep through the night and not wake up until 10am every Saturday...right????), then a day at a campground with some good friends, and looking forward to a bbq with Brad's fam on Monday. Lots of fun and relaxation and time in the sunroom also planned :)

A Random Late-Night Tuesday Post

It's late, and I should go to bed, but instead I am working on a gift for a dear friend of mine who is going through a hard time.  In the spirit of the good old "mixed tapes" I am working on putting together a "mixed cd" full of songs that have lifted my eyes to Jesus in the hard times.  So while I work on that and wait for my hubby to return from a late-night hockey-watching session with his bro, I thought I'd catch you up on some of the goings-on around here.  

And use several hyphenated phrases in the process :)

Let's see, the weekend...was lovely!  I meant to take a picture of our sunroom, which is my most favorite room ever and where I have been spending oodles of time lately.  I have been reading loads, finishing a wonderful book by Francine Rivers and working through another by one of my all-time favorite authors, Elisabeth Elliot.  

On Saturday, I spent a lot of time thinking and reading, as a big event was occuring in my life on Sunday.  In church on Sunday morning, Brad and I were able to share about what has been going on in our lives the last three years (i.e. the infertility and adoption journey) and what the Lord has been doing through that.  It was a blessing to be able to share about His goodness and faithfulness to us, but to be honest it was a pretty difficult thing to do as well.  Sharing about something so personal was not easy, and public speaking is pretty high on the list of things I never ever ever want to do.  Right up there with sky diving (sorry, Kristy).  But, the Lord gave us the peace and the strength to be able to share and hopefully to bring Him praise for all He has done.  I was so proud of Brad for sharing the way he did...but he made me cry almost as soon as he started talking!  I do love that man.

Happy Note:  Today is 9 months of us being on the waiting list for baby!!!!

I've been running and rollerblading, and trying to learn to eat better.  I've stopped eating 8-10 cookies a day and surprisingly am losing my cravings :)  YEY!  Tonight I cleaned out the fridge, did a great big grocery shop and stocked up with all kinds of good, healthy food.  I even took a picture, I was so excited!  Brad tried really hard to act excited, but he gave a big sigh of relief when he found that I had only relocated, not thrown away, his giant bag of "cheesy poofs".  

Tomorrow maybe I'll get to the pictures...and less words!

Surviving Another 5k!

I. Love. Running.

That's all there is to it.  I am hooked.

There is something so great about races.  I love to look around and see all the different people at races.  Some of them are obviously going to finish way before me.  Some of them look confident and toned and ready to go.  But a lot of them look just like me.  A little nervous, sort of unsure about themselves, wondering how they are going to do.  I love that all kinds of people come out to races.  Fast people, slow people, big people, little people, kids (lots of them passed me today), walkers (yep, some of them passed me today, too!)...

The best thing about it is that everyone cheers you on.  People are friendly and positive and happy.  Races are high-energy, exciting places to be.

So while my time was terrible (and will not even be posted on this blog!) and it was cold and rainy, I had the best time tonight!  Wonderful memories, fun with friends, and I finished the race.  And for me, that is good enough :)

My only regret - that I do not have a picture of me with my sister, Joanna, who came to support me and who kept me from throwing up before the race (why get nervous about a race you are obviously not going to win? I have no idea!).  She was taking all the pictures and when I got home I realized I didn't take any with her in them.  But she's in all my memories!!!

And now...on to the next challenge!