Sneak Peek!!!

Had a wedding this morning/afternoon, here is a sneak peek at some of my initial editing- there will be more to come later!

Testing Testing 1...2...3

I purchased my new lens today for the wedding I am shooting this weekend and of course I am taking some test shots around the house to get a feel for my new baby. Okay, now I only spent $120 for this Nikkor lens it is a 50mm 1.8D and HOLY COW I am impressed already. Anybody up to be my newest model before Saturday?? Below are my test shots with the new lens. The depth of field is really awesome!

Ut-t-tah

So we finally made it home safe last night just before 10pm... MAN, all I have to say is I am so not ever doing a road trip like that 8 months pregnant-crazy!!

So our week was filled with some AWESOME speakers, and I know this trip is supposed to be for high school kids but I really enjoyed myself other than the 1 mile walk down and 1 mile hike back to our main stage area. Convention had about 900 kids (most of them from Michigan, ha ha all dutch boys and girls mainly). I think we were the only group from California there, it was funny hearing everyone ask us if we surfed and did we know any celebrities!

My favorite speaker had to have been Doug Herman
Doug had to have one of the most powerful testimonies, lost his wife and child of 2 years old to AIDS after a blood transfusion given at delivery. After losing some faith after this, God showed him amazing truths and since been re-married and has 2 more children. We are made in the image of God "Imago Dei". He is so animated and funny, we could not help but keep laughing, we ended up buying his DVD.

"Doug Herman is an international speaker and author who has spent over 20 years in youth and family work. Not only has he been a youth pastor at small country churches as well as one of the nation's largest multi-cultural churches. Having lost a wife and daughter to AIDS while he was a minister, Doug has emerged from this tragedy strong and true.

"Like few pastors I've known, Doug has learned and grown from the toughest of life's lessons….. Doug has a theological understanding that probes deeper than many ministers' because he’s been through the fire. I recommend you journey with Doug." - Philip Yancey, author

Another awesome guy was Ben Glen

Ben did some awesome chalk drawings, Has an awesome testimony about how he thought God had messed up on him because of his dyslexia, but God has made each one of us perfect. If you can believe it Ben Glen is standing in front of one of his drawings, and YES he did this pictures with nothing but chalk.

33 weeks & Utah here we come :)

Here is the most updated picture I have taken, now at 33 weeks!

Dr's appt went well today, everything is still looking good with me and the baby my next appt is in another 2 weeks which then they will do the checks on my cervix and see if any effacement or dialation is occurring. All is well so far.

Tomorrow morning 5:30am rolls around and this is when Andrew & I, Kendal & Katie (youth leaders) and 4 other kids (Jessica, Kayla, Michael, and Jerry) leave on the road to Utah. Why Utah you ask? This year's youth convention will be held in Salt Lake City Olympic Village, tons of kids from all over the nation come together for a convention with speakers, bands, etc. Great experience for the kids. We're taking 2 cars, lots of toys, and junk food for the 10 hour drive. Get your camera ready, cause Utah here we come. This should be fun since both Katie & I are pregnant, Katie of course is due in January so she will enjoy this trip much more than me who has to pee every 2 minutes :) Anyway, I have tomorrow through Tues off work- so this should be interesting coming back after a few days off. Keep us in your prayers for safe travel to and from Utah!

My new favorites

Okay I have found some newer artists that I totally love and my favorite songs of their's are right below:

Jon McLaughlin
"Beautiful Disaster"












Brandon Heath
"I'm not who I was"










Disciple
"After the world"







Wavorly
"Praise and Adore (some live without it)"

Thursdays

The next 3 weeks on Thursdays we will be completing the childbirth prepared classes, as one the ladies in the class said so eloquently they're called prepared classes so you can get prepared to scream!

No not really! The classes have been very informative, Andrew and I have homework we TRY to do every night. Andrew was told he has to practice massaging my back every night (which has been soooo nice) and I have to do some exercises that he spots me on in case I lose my balance or something like that- Squatting, lunges, etc.

This last week has been hard as far as sleeping goes since you are only supposed to sleep on your side, my thighs and hips have been extremely sore when I wake up because I lay on my side, so I switch sides in the night but that doesn't help just makes both side sore so I walk like I am hobbling all day because my muscles are sore there. Other than that the baby doesn't wake me up with the kicking or anything in the middle of the night.

As to be expected, I am only 8 weeks away from my due date and of course I am getting anxious and nervous, wondering how I am going to do in delivery, will I have any complications, how long will I be in labor? You know the normal questions I am sure every mother who will be in labor ask themselves. I only have about 4 weeks left of work right now before I go on materity leave which I can't wait for. Work has been so exhausting and I can't seem to keep up like I would like to.

I have a lot of information I have to look up before the baby comes, like insurance for the baby after it's born because Andrew's work does not have good group rates and I won't be eligible for insurance once I go to part time status. I have been given some great information from IEHP and also the EDD for compensation of my income when I move to part time. God has really been good at providing for us once the baby comes, He is so awesome to us :) Yikes only 8 weeks left!!!!

Yippee!!!

Praise the Lord, the results are in Thank you for your prayers- I do NOT have gestational diabetes!! My test came back normal which was such a praise. Baby's heart beat was strong, and I have a follow up test to make sure my UTI has cleared up. I will be starting to have appts every 2 weeks until I get closer to my due date now, so my next appt is July 19th.

Today, we start our Childbirth classes at 6:30pm so this should be an interesting experience for sure!!! I will let you know how that goes later tonight.

Thank you again everyone for your prayers!!

In style

So, We have been moved in since March but haven't really done too much as far as decorating the house but since I am in mommy mode and feeling the nesting thing with everything being clean and all... I finally bought some items at my good ole' friend Target to move the process along. Here are some pictures of some items I have bought, I really like them especially my little trunk for the entry way!

31 Weeks

Hey Everyone, It seems like it has been a while since I have posted a new picture of myself seems like I am growing pretty fast here I can't believe it! Monday marks the beginning of my 31st week- Yikes can you believe that I am only 9 weeks away from my due date already??

We have been working on signing up for our childbirth classes, which I believe should be starting this upcoming Thurs. Kind of exciting and also becoming even more surreal and I have been starting to prepare for my maternity leave at work and then childbirth classes... It's been a whirlwind of sorts because it has flown by so quickly.
I have been pretty lucky so far in my pregnancy, the only stretch marks I have gotten are on my thighs of all places (go figure!), Seems like I am carrying mainly all in the front like I am growing straight out more than around. Also, the wedding rings have come off this week, I was barely able to get them off last night so I have resulted to not wearing them anymore as I have become a tiny swollen in my hands and a tiny bit in my feet but nothing too noticeable just yet.

The baby is doing some crazy things in my stomach- I feel a hard kick and I will put my hand of my stomach and I feel the baby's foot or something... I am like Whoa!! Okay- that is new! There are times that the baby moves so much that it actually tickles me especially when I go to lay down to sleep. It's a nice reassurance that everything is still going okay with the baby so far so I like feeling the baby rolling around in there.

We finished VBS this last Friday which I have to say is fun but also very exhausting at the same time because we go to work for 8 hours and then we are non-stop again until 8:30pm when VBS gets done every night. We had a lot of success this year with an average of 90 children attending our VBS. I am glad that it is over now though because I NEED SLEEP! ha ha.

Also, the newest show I started watching was Top Chef on Bravo, this is interesting another reality TV show in which I have found amusing now so I have been watching this. Andrew and I now are able to get YouTube videos on our Apple TV so we have watched a few performances from Britain's Got Talent show and an across Paul Potts, sells Cell Phones for a living but seems to be able to sing amazing Opera like Andrea Bocelli and Pavaroti- Even Simon Cowell was impressed. Crazy huh?

Alrighty, well that is it for now.