Saturday, March 31, 2007

The new happenings

Thursday, we had a couple over and we got creative and decorated some cakes for fun, so here is a picture of the cakes we made and they were ohhhh sooo good to eat too. Mine is the cake that looks like a clown cake all brightly colored and all! Becca's is the Surf's up cake with waves and all. What can we say, her major is art. Here is the picture of our 3 cakes:












Yesterday we got delivered our new TV... Yipeee! It is ohhhh so pretty!! Here is a picture of it below:
On order right now is a Wedding Book I have created through iPhoto on my laptop, because I needed something professional looking to show clients when they want to book me for a photography job. This is the cover of my first album, it was relatively cheap considering Shutterfly wanted $60.00 for an album like I wanted. iPhoto only cost me around $30.00 and it will have a black linen cover with this as the front of the album:


Also, may be a prayer answered. We have praying, of course, about what we were going to do once the baby was born and we have been cutting back anything we owe and putting money in the bank. I have been wondering what I could do for any extra money after the baby was born, Thursday afternoon, after helping my boss out a lot with projects and it being crazy busy at work. She said that I couldn't leave working once the baby was born because they needed me so bad. She said that she would find something for me part time in the same department and if we could she would see if we could set me up to do some work from home. My jaw is dropping and I am like, WOW! That would be so awesome if we could do that because that is what we have been trying to figure out :) She said, we'll talk more once we get closer to your due date, but you can't leave us! I am keeping this is my prayers that hopefully something would be able to work out. I am not getting my hopes up, of course, they have to think about budget, etc. before anything like this would ever even happen. So, keep this in your prayers, this would be nothing short of a miracle to us because I love my job and my bosses and I know that I won't want to leave my baby for too long.

Thursday, March 29, 2007

Galations "(6:1) Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. (6:2) Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. (6:3) If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. (6:4) Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, (6:5) for each one should carry his own load."

Reading at my lunch and these are what we read. As Christians, we have many responsibilities- one including us holding each other accountable. When we see a brother or sister doing things, we should step up to the plate and gently correct them. Doesn't inlcude us going up to our friend and saying "Fool, what are you doing?"
Always keep your spirit humble, reminding ourselves that we are nothing more than servants seeking to please the LORD or GOD and not ourselves.
Take pride that you are exactly how God has planned to make you. Be proud that you are a creation of God, and by the world's standards you may not be perfect but God sees you as a perfect creation.
Lastly, carry your own load. Be prepared that in times in our lives our load may be heavy and other times it may seem light. But don't pawn your responsibilities on anyone else. Step up to bat and take a big swing, sometimes we'll miss the ball but maybe we'll get it at the next pitch. God has given each one of us a specific load, and it will never be more than we can bear.

Keep your focus on the things God has placed before you in your life, and the many joys He will bring you if you continue to follow his direction.

Friday, March 23, 2007

New TV and other stuff

We decided to buy a TV, well somewhat of a TV it is actually a 27in. LCD TV for a pretty low price too from CompUSA. We did buy it online, so we won't have it for the next couple of days but none the less. We will have something to be able to watch.
I still have not decorated much, we are still struggling to find a coffee table that will fit in our apartment. We got this coffee table from a friend but after we put it in there is no walking room and we wouldn't be able to get into our DVD's either. We are in search of a coffee table that is about 17 in. wide to be able to fit it in there. Smallest we've seen was 22 right now. We might end up just buying 2 side tables and putting them in the middle so we can move them whenever we like. We will see what we can find.

Also, I am going to try and see if I can get my wedding pictures, which are on negatives, converted to digital so I can actually re-print them without having to try and figure out which negative belongs to which picture, ugh! I believe Ritz camera can do this but I am not sure. I have very limited amount of wedding pictures in the house right now because of this reason.
That's it for now.

Monday, March 19, 2007

Selling the truck

In an effort to lower our cost of living we have made a decision to sell the truck. The truck has been good to us and if we could help it at all we probably wouldn't sell it. It is costing us a lot to insure plus we won't be able to afford it if we decide to stay home with the baby. The truck has been great, I will miss it dearly and because it was Andrew's dream vehicle. Sometimes we have to sacrifice in order to make things work, especially financially... so I am pretty sure this is the route we are going to go because it seems to be the only thing we really could do. When I am not working the Honda will be good to us, great gas mileage and will lower our insurance quite a bit. Not the thing either one of us want to do, but we have to make it work somehow and this is something we can afford to give up right now. We can put the money from the truck into an account and allow us some room in case things get really tough financially.

I am working on some ideas of what I could do from home once the baby gets a little older. Everyone suggests photography but until I make a name for myself I will be at the mercy of the client for me to make money. I have explored other ideas but haven't found anything too promising and that won't cost me money up front. So if you have any ideas let me know

Sunday, March 18, 2007

Going on 16 weeks and the wierdest dream...


So starting next week I should be in the beginning of my 16th week, still feeling pretty good and finding that I am still kinda fitting into my old clothes but getting together. Everyone at church kept asking me "When are you going to start showing?" I usually just shrug and say I don't know... So, I feel chubby and to me I see a little belly but to most people don't see anything at all resembling a belly. Here is the most resent picture I took of myself is morning....


The other part of my title for my blog was that I have had now 2 dreams of my car being stolen. We own a 2006 Honda Civic sedan, this most resent dream was me taking it to a non-official car wash at a gas station. I was waiting for some time when I looked outside and I did not see my car anywhere. When I asked the people they said they took the car around the block to dry it off. A little while later when everyone else's cars were gone I was sitting there and my car still had not shown. When I asked the cashier she told me that sometimes they take people's cars... Aghast I say "What!!" The cashier said, you see those people in the cars leaving right now they are the ones that probably stole you car but we can't bother them now they are leaving... still shocked... I said "Little do they know my car has low-jack and you will pay for this" They located the car and they said it was on the dock getting ready to be loaded into a truck. Then... I woke up. Sheesh what is up with the 2 dreams of my car being stolen?

Monday, March 12, 2007

Does Darfur have a prayer?


A few months back I heard from a friend about the small area in the Sudan, Darfur, and when I was told about the genocide that is occuring over there... at first I wasn't at all hit by it until I went to a website Save Darfur recently and realized the statistics of how bad it really is over there, how devastating it is. The weird thing to me was "Why had I not heard about any of this in the news? How come their government is choosing to ignore the problem?" Below I have copied the background of Darfur from SaveDarfur.org. I hope that you stop by the website and maybe even donate some money to this organization that is trying to stop the genocide over there.

"Darfur has been embroiled in a deadly conflict for over three years. At least 400,000 people have been killed; more than 2 million innocent civilians have been forced to flee their homes and now live in displaced-persons camps in Sudan or in refugee camps in neighboring Chad; and more than 3.5 million men, women, and children are completely reliant on international aid for survival. Not since the Rwandan genocide of 1994 has the world seen such a calculated campaign of displacement, starvation, rape, and mass slaughter.

Since early 2003, Sudanese armed forces and Sudanese government-backed militia known as “Janjaweed” have been fighting two rebel groups in Darfur, the Sudanese Liberation Army/Movement (SLA/SLM) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM). The stated political aim of the rebels has been to compel the government of Sudan to address underdevelopment and the political marginalization of the region. In response, the Sudanese government’s regular armed forces and the Janjaweed – largely composed of fighters of Arab nomadic background – have targeted civilian populations and ethnic group from which the rebels primarily draw their support – the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa.

The Bush Administration has recognized these atrocities – carried out against civilians primarily by the government of Sudan and its allied Janjaweed militias – as genocide. António Guterres, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, has described the situation in Sudan and Chad as “the largest and most complex humanitarian problem on the globe.” The Sudanese government and the Janjaweed militias are responsible for the burning and destruction of hundreds of rural villages, the killing of tens of thousands of people and rape and assault of thousands of women and girls.

With much international pressure, the Darfur Peace Agreement was brokered in May 2006 between the government of Sudan and one faction of Darfur rebels. However, deadlines have been ignored and the violence has escalated, with in-fighting among the various rebel groups and factions dramatically increasing and adding a new layer of complexity to the conflict. This violence has made it dangerous, if not impossible, for most of the millions of displaced persons to return to their homes. Humanitarian aid agencies face growing obstacles to bringing widespread relief. In August 2006, the UN's top humanitarian official Jan Egeland stated that the situation in Darfur is "going from real bad to catastrophic." Indeed, the violence in Darfur rages on with government-backed militias still attacking civilian populations with impunity.

On July 30, 2004, the UN Security Council adopted resolution 1556 demanding that the government of Sudan disarm the Janjaweed. This same demand is also an important part of the Darfur Peace Agreement signed in May of 2006. On August 31, 2006, the Security Council took the further step of authorizing a strong UN peacekeeping force for Darfur by passing resolution 1706. Despite these actions, the Janjaweed are still active and free to commit the same genocidal crimes against civilians in Darfur with the aid of the Sudanese government.

International experts agree that the United Nations Security Council must deploy a peacekeeping force with a mandate to protect civilians immediately. Until it arrives, the under-funded and overwhelmed African Union monitoring mission must be bolstered. And governments and international institutions must provide and ensure access to sufficient humanitarian aid for those in need."

Thursday, March 08, 2007

Move in day!

Yesterday we were actually able to move in, which is awesome!!! We moved in pretty much everything with the help of our friends Eric, Josh, and Talia. Put most of our stuff away too, we have books (which we need bookcases for), Clothes to hang up, etc. So we spent our first night in the new place tonight and I have to tell you I slept like a baby in our new bed... I never thought it would feel so nice to see a bed until it hit 1am....ha ha. Took a nice Hot shower this morning, so that was pretty awesome. Just looking forward to getting the rest of our stuff from the RV and moving it on in, but it should be just little stuff from now on. Yipeee, It is so nice to be in this place, Just have to thank the Lord for opening the door for us :) I will take some pictures soon and post them, but right now you don't want to see the place because there are boxes everywhere still. More to come :)

Wednesday, March 07, 2007

Nooma video "Rain"

Imagine this....

It's early in the morning and the sun just barely rises over the lake and a Father takes his 1 year old son on a hike early in the morning. The Father puts his son in a backpack as they hike around the lake with the fog still over the lake from the cool night.. As they re hiking around it's a moment that you wish you could just freeze because it is just so beautiful. As they get halfway around the lake the Father looks up and sees dark clouds. Shortly after, it starts to drizzle and then it is pouring rain. With lightning and thunder, the Father hikes faster to get home with his son on his back still he puts the hood on his son's head. They are soaking wet, his son starts crying at the top of his lungs and at points shrieking out of fear from the lightning and thunder. The Father grabs his son out of the carrier and brings him closer to his body and whispers to him " I love you son, we're gonna make it!" Still hiking through all the rain, thunder, and lightning and whispering "I love you son, we're gonna make it!"

Isn't our relationship with God just like this? We puts us onto His back and we follow His lead through so much beauty and we wish we could just freeze that moment. And when the storms rage, the rain falls, and the lightning strikes we pulls us off His back and brings us close into His body and whispers "I Love you, we're gonna make it!" We're gonna make it through the storm and the rain eventhough we're scared... But we are protected under his strength and loving arms. He just simply whispers in our ear "I love you, we're gonna make it!" It's when we go through these trials that God pulls us close to Him.

Has there ever been a moment in your life you just wanted to freeze because it was so beautiful? Do you think that there is an easier way than to have to go through trials?

Monday, March 05, 2007

The most precious thing

Today I heard our baby's heart beat for the first time! It was such a special moment, I cried the whole way home from the Dr's. Everything is still looking good so far, next visit I have to take another HIV test... they said the results were indefinite... whatever that means. So far so good, I should be getting my lab results from the exam in a week or so. Other than that just my clothes getting tighter and tighter. I think in the next 4 weeks I should be getting a belly here :)

Willow Tree

I have recently purchased 3 pieces of the Willow Tree by Demdaco for our new apartment, so here is a picture I took quickly of them this morning.

So, our intended move in date is now Wednesday instead of this last weekend, but we will just have to wait and see if they did actually finish the apartment. These last couple of days has been kind of hard because we had arranged eveything perfectly for the move this weekend. So now, we have no Hot Water and no home telephone or internet. You wouldn't think hot water would be such a big deal until you go to take a shower. Anyway, that's it for now I think. I will most likely post another because I have a Dr's appointment this morning.

Saturday, March 03, 2007

Not moving this weekend!!!!!

Andrew and I are thoroughly mad this weekend... which would have been a perfect weekend to move by the way. We called the apartments Friday morning to pick up keys and said that the contractor has still not finished the granite countertops. So, we had everything shut off, telephone, internet, etc. Now they are telling us we may not be able to move in until Wed. I cannot believe this, they moved our date from the 1st to the 2nd and now not until next week. Andrew is going to get aggressive with them and have them comp us another free month since they have now taken away 1/2 of our free month due to their own problems not ours. Sorry, but they will breach their contract if they don't comp us a month like promised. We had gas turned on, electric, etc at our new apartment too so that is one more thing. Luckily, my work is accomodating and will allow me time off mid week to move if necessary. I am so mad, so we spent all today cleaning up the RV and getting it ready for our new possible owner. Geesh, can you believe it???

Thursday, March 01, 2007

Proud new owner of a....

Simmons Durst Heights Plush matress... After a little looking we found a very firm but comfy matress and NO it is not a pillow top. They are too soft :) We went to JCPenney's and they said it would take 5-10 business days to deliver so that wouldn't work! We went to this place called "Matress Discounters" and they can let us do a store pick up since we have a big truck and save ourselves the delivery. Tomorrow we will pick it up after work and do the rest of our moving. Pretty cool!!! Yippeee we move in tomorrow :)

"Ordinary Love" Toby Mac - Portable Sounds

Momma never said it would be like this
I never knew such bliss existed
Or maybe it's just so indescribable
Love was liable to get her twisted
She never told me but if she tried I was a little to young it floated right by me
I never dreamed love so fulfilling it's simply killing and over spilling on me
It goes on and on and on and on and on
Its over spillin' on me
It goes on and on and on and on and on
It goes on and on, Yo
This ain't no ordinary
This ain't no ordinary love
This ain't no ordinary
Gonna tell everyone up under the sun (2 times)
I refuse to believe we're a dying breed
Children of peace, hope and harmony
Ordinary folks extraordinary love
Something from above
Something we fall short of
You can't see with an untrained eye
But if you take a little time you are sure to find it
We complicate something so basic
But once you taste it, you gonna chase it like me
It goes on and on, Yo
It goes on and on
This ain't no ordinary
This ain't no ordinary love
This ain't no ordinary
Gonna tell everyone up under the sun (3 times)
A-yo here we go, open up the gates and let it flow...
A-yo here we go, Love's gonna take us higher (2 times)
This ain't no ordinary...
This ain't no ordinary love
This ain't no ordinary
Gonna tell everyone up under the sun
This ain't no ordinary
This ain't no ordinary love
This ain't no ordinary
Gonna tell everyone, tell everyone (2 times)
This ain't no ordinary love
It's extraordinary love (2 times)

Moving date March 2nd and 3rd

We have been keeping in contact with our complex managers to see if the unit was going to be ready by March 1st and they postponed it to March 2dn because they still had to put the granite countertops in. Okay.... so one more day! I only have a few more things to pack like our dishes, cups, silverware, etc, but I was trying to wait til the last minute because I kind of have to use this stuff :) Last night, we went to look at some mattresses, we stopped by Gottschalks but I think we are going to pass on them- too expensive. A couple that went with us said we should go and look at the Select Comfort (Sleep Number) beds, so we went by the mall but after them offering a basic mattress for a cool $1800... we decided this was not the route to go right now. Although in the future I would LOVE one of these beds. The most comfortable bed by far!!! JCpenney is having a furniture and matress sale so we will probably stop by there today and see if we can find a good deal.

We posted an ad for our 5th wheel on RVtrader.com and we actually have gotten now 6 or 7 bites from this ad now and quite a few people that want to stop by to take a look. Also, we forgot that we are paid up on our current rent until the 15th of March so after we move we are going to keep the RV here until the 10th so we can show buyers the rv while nobody is in it. We have a few serious buyers, so hopefully someone will buy this quickly. Keep that in prayer.

God has been good to us, He really has. Sometimes, I think we bypass all the little blessings we have everyday. Like this morning, I woke up and had hot water for a shower and clothes on my back. I think so often we have these kinds of blessings everyday that we get so used them and we forget to thank God for them. There are people all over the world that have no idea what it is like to have a hot shower. So I feel very blessed that I can. Lately, it has been really hard for to do my devotionals and mostly because I feel so exhausted because of the pregnancy that I try and get as much sleep as possible. After the move, we will have more time to sleep in because we will be closer to work... so I am determined to continue these devotions after the move.