5k for 5 months

Yesterday, Tanner and I participated in our first 5k race! I have been wanting to start doing races, in hopes of one day doing a half marathon, for about a year now.  I  could never talk Tanner into signing up for one - until I was 5 months pregnant.  For some reason, he thought it was good timing. Typical. I say for "some" reason when I know what the real reason was. Two words. Ice cream. That boy will do anything for some ice cream. The race we did was the Blue Bell Fun Run and the only thing fun about it was the free blue bell ice cream at the end! It was in Brenham, which is actually the school district I work for, so I was familiar with the area. The Blue Bell factory is in Brenham and sponsored the race to raise money for all of the school athletics. (Hence the free ice cream at the end) It ended up being a big race, with over 4,000 participants. Which is huge considering the ice cream factory is about the only thing in the town! The course was extremely hilly, making it 10 times harder than I thought it'd be. Granted, we haven't been training or anything, and I'm about 10 lbs heavier than I normally am with a baby inside of me - both of which MIGHT have contributed to the difficulty level.  At any rate, Tanner did great! I don't remember our times, but I do know that his time was faster than the male average for the race. My time was actually right around the female average - which I'm totally OK with....for now. We had a lot of fun and definitely want to do more races in the future!

                                                           my 5 month picture

this was the first of five ice creams for Tanner =)

the group from our church that did the race

storage solution

Ever since we moved into our townhouse, there has been an issue of "where in the world can we cram this?" We cut our square footage in half, so needless to say, lack of space is a major problem.  That problem got even bigger when we got a Kinect for Christmas, but have no space to move around to play it! Now, talk about sadness. To help with the situation, I decided we needed to get rid of our coffee table.  It's nothing special and it takes up a lot of space with minimal storage.  But that leaves us with another issue - no place to put drinks, plates when we want to eat in the living room (which happens quite often), etc. And we still have the issue of no storage. In comes the ottoman:

 

This thing has been stuffed in the corner for when we need it, which has been never since we moved in, simply because there was no space for it. Well, I decided to make it useful. It started out in one piece, so first thing was to separate the top from the bottom and strip it, which meant taking out no less than 200 staples..not kidding..whoever made it got way staple-happy. It literally took us three hours just to take them all out. 

And let me clarify that my husband helped me tremendously with this remodel. I could not have done it without his muscle power =) After stripping all the cloth and padding away, Tanner made a bottom to hold things in. 

Next step, re-cover:

 

Final step, make somewhere to set stuff like drink, plates, etc.:

And the thing I love the most, is it gives me a place to put blankets and pillows since we don't have a linen closet!

You + Me = 3

Whew. Now that it's out in the open (I've been waiting a while for this), I'll catch you up on our life lately! It's obviously been interesting. =) 

We are finally settled here in Bryan, TX.  We were able to find an amazing condo to rent for a wonderful price and the best part is it's within biking/walking distance of the church, our gym, walmart, and, my favorite, Chick-fil-a! Even though it took us a little while to get adjusted to the size (it's half of the size of our house in Hattiesburg), we are really enjoying it.  Although, with the new addition, we are going to have to get extremely creative on how to organize our one spare bedroom into a nursery/guest room/craft room! I'm welcome to ideas if you have any!

Our holidays were filled with traveling, family time, and more traveling.  My cousin got married Saturday the 17th in a BEAUTIFUL Christmas/winter wedding.  Isn't she the most beautiful bride you've ever seen?!

I was out of school the week before Christmas, so I rode back with my parents and stayed with them for a few days.  My grandmother isn't doing so well, so I wanted to spend as much time with her as possible while I had the chance. I had started having some nauseousness on the way to her wedding but I assumed it was just car sickness or something.  While at my parents, I continued to have the nauseousness but I also started having cramps.  Which is not a pregnancy symptom I'm familiar with so I thought nothing of it.  Then one day, I got dizzy all of a sudden and my dad said something about me being pregnant.  Again, I dismissed it, attributing it to standing up too quickly.  But, just for curiosity's sake, I looked up "early signs of pregnancy."  I still hadn't missed my period so I wasn't too concerned, BUT when I saw the list included: dizziness, menstrual-like cramps, nauseousness, and moodiness (which Tanner will affirm this one)...all of which I had been experiencing over the past 2 weeks, I freaked a little.  Finally, my friend Drew urged me to take a test.  Which I did. And it didn't work. So I took another...and it messed up too. So we went to buy more and finally, third times a charm, it immediately showed a plus sign. So, along with all the other symptoms, I added shortness of breath and freaking out to the list. Now, don't get me wrong, I was extremely excited, but I was nervous, too! I couldn't tell anyone because I wanted to tell Tanner first.  The next day, my dad drove me to the airport so I could fly back to Houston - try riding in a car with your dad for 2 hours having JUST found out you are pregnant and not having an emotional breakdown...it's nearly impossible.  And then try flying through a thunderstorm while experiencing 'morning sickness.' It's not on my to-do list again any time soon. I finally made it to my husband and boy was I shaking.  We had to drive an hour and a half to his parents house and I knew this was the only time I was going to have to tell him if we wanted to tell family during the holiday get-togethers. So, I begged him to drive (which gave away that I was hiding something because I NEVER volunteer for this duty) so he wouldn't kill us or someone else when he had a stroke and wrecked the car. Then when we were good and on our way, I told him I had an early Christmas present for him in my purse. He pulled out the green-tissue-wrapped tests, yes plural, and immediately starting feeling the package.  He figured out what they were before he even opened them! After he came out of his state of shock he smiled and started asking questions.  So we spent some time with his family and then drove back to Bryan to have Christmas Eve and Christmas services and then drove back to Hattiesburg to have my family's Christmas.  (Talk about tired of being in a car!) At every family gathering, we wrapped (the same) pack of diapers to let the parents and grandparents unwrap.  I was so glad we found out at a perfect time to be able to tell our families in person and for the most part, all at once! And my favorite was getting to capture the reactions to keep forever =)

As you can see, dad and grandpa were a little shell-shocked at first! ha.

And here we are at the present time and we had our first Dr. appointment this morning! He said everything looked good.  We are 5 1/2 weeks along with a due date of August 31. So far, my symptoms have been mild and sporadic, but he said around 6 weeks is when they could hit pretty strong, so I may be singing a different tune this time next week.  We struggled with whether or not to tell everyone until we had an ultrasound, but I just couldn't hold it in any longer! Everywhere around here won't even give us an appointment until I'm 8 weeks.  It's a running joke now that I may be having twins.  Well, I say joke, but it's an absolute possibility.  My dad's a twin so I have a higher chance of it and everyone seems to think I'm going to be the lucky one in the family to continue the tradition - so I'm extremely ready for an ultrasound!

Open arms

Ok, so I have heard that when you are pregnant, you are very emotional. Well I have discovered that there is no need to be pregnant for this to happen. Just move 8 hours away from your family. Vuala. Emotional roller coaster without the morning sickness. Take tonight for instance. I started bawling while painting the words "apple cider." now, one of two reasons why I am crazy things just popped into your head.(side note: ignore any misspellings and/or punctuation errors-I am typing on the iPad. I just fixed popped from pooped...) The first is "why in the world are you painting apple cider?" the answer to that is...it is a project for my cousin's wedding. The second thing would be "why did apple cider make you cry?" I won't scare you with my thought process but it went from apple cider is what we had at our wedding to this is has been and is going to be the hardest phase of my life, I think. Somewhere along the way Kari Jobe was singing in the background about Healing Hands and I just lost it. Thankfully my cryfests have decreased in numbers but they still come...and they come out of nowhere (like I saw a principal in the hallway with a kid last week and it was all I could do to keep myself together through that therapy session because the principal reminded me of my dad with the way he was calmly getting on to him). The last month has been nothing less than chaos surrounded by chaos. The busyness has helped with the homesickness, but has added to the feeling of not being settled. Between work, praise band, choir, weekend trips, and apartment hunting there just hasn't been time to get into a routine yet. We did, however just get the keys to our new condo today! :) pictures will come soon and probably an entire blog devoted to it, but for now let's just say it is a blessing to finally have a place to call our own here. To get to the point of this rambling mess(what's new)... As I was sitting here trying to get finished with the words "apple cider" before my paint dried up without washing it all away with the Rio de Emilio, I was overwhelmed with God's comfort and warm embrace. My wandering thoughts that always lead to unanswered questions and tears were interrupted; my aching heart was stilled. What a joy it is to serve a God who cares about insignificant me. I am worth nothing....most people on this earth couldn't care less if I was crying or not. But the God and Creator of EVERYTHING cares. Woah. And he has a plan. As hard as this phase of life is for me, I can get through it with His help because this is His plan for me. Even though I have the audacity to question His reasoning, He loves me enough to carry me through and wrap a surreal comfort around my heart that cannot be found elsewhere. I know people constantly go through worse situations than I. I am so extremely blessed. My prayer tonight is that if you are going through a difficult time, I hope and pray that you have the comfort of Christ to run to. If not, please know that it isn't because He isn't there. He loves you and wants nothing more than to welcome His child into His open arms where a peace that you cant even begin to imagine is waiting.

one week

Well, it's been one week since we have been official residents of Texas.  OK, technically, it's been one week and 1 1/2 days, but this is the first time I've had the chance to sit down and write, so it's the best I got.  Life has been a whirlwind since we got here! But I thought I'd make a list of the top 7 things I've learned so far (one for each day of the week we've been here). Here is it:

Day 1 - Saturday --> Texas has some stupid rules.  The story: I had to get fingerprinted for my new job.  A set had to be given to my company and a set had to be given to the State Dept. of Education.  Well, they gave me the option of doing it electronically inside the state of Texas or they could mail me a kit.  At this point, we still had a month to go in Mississippi, so I figured the mailing was the best bet.  BONK. wrong answer.  I never received the kit in the mail and a week before we moved I called and had to set up a time to get it done electronically once we got there.  I say I called.  I did call - 27 times - but they NEVER answered. And 27 is not an exaggerated number. So I had to do it online.  Apparently everyone and their mother who lives in Texas likes to get fingerprinted because there was only one time slot open on Saturday and it was in Houston at 1:40pm.  Therefore, we had to LEAVE at 630am to get there on time.  Not to mention the fact that we had to drive through a Tropical Storm the entire way.  SOOO, we get there right on time after almost getting blown off the face of the earth and Tanner has to walk Maverick around a parking lot while I go inside.  Turns out - they would only do one set because I only had one appointment. And something about she couldn't type in the code that was on the piece of paper I handed her.  Sheesh. Let me get there at your computer and I'll type in the stinkin code! (I was not a happy camper, might I add) But, I kept my emotional breakdown to myself and yelled at her calmly asked her what I needed to do because without this fingerprint I could not start my job on Tuesday. and Monday was a holiday so they were closed. and we were from MS. and our new home was 1 1/2 hours from Houston. Ends up, we just had to drive back down there Tuesday after work (I just wasn't allowed to service kids) and get it all done. So, first memory of Texas = you have stupid rules.  But in all honesty, the lady was very nice and genuinely wished there was something she could have done about it - she even called her boss to make sure!
Day 2 - Sunday -->  First Baptist Church Bryan, Texas has some amazing people.  We really already knew this, but Sunday was just amazing.  We were overwhelmed at the opening of hearts and homes to us.  A sub-lesson under this one is Everyone needs a MeMe.  This lady at church, known as MeMe (she says she used to have another name, but has forgotten it), immediately (in the welcome line after the service) invited us over for ice cream Sunday afternoon.  Of course, my husband cannot pass up an opportunity for ice cream! While there, we had a wonderful visit getting to know a little about her and she offered to be our grandmother away from home.  I had to fight back the tears.  She reminded me so much of my great aunt whom I was named after and miss so much.
Day 3 - Monday --> Bryan has really good parks.  It's apparently a rule here in town that for every new neighborhood, or few blocks, or something like that, they have to put in a public park.  Best rule ever. (Ok, so maybe not all Texas rules are stupid) They all have a walking track, playground and splash pad! Since we both had the day off, we went and found a pretty large park and walked Maverick around and swung on the swingset.  Not kidding. =)
Day 4 - Tuesday --> I'm not good at new jobs. I am not the outgoing personality that is good and starting a new job and automatically feeling plugged in and comfortable.  I like having a history there and knowing everyone and everyone knowing me.  Or at least having SOMEONE i know to ask stupid questions like Where's the bathroom? or What in the world am I doing here?
Day 5 - Wednesday --> I take my GPS for granted.  Our phones had been all out of whack here since our carrier is a regional company (Cellular South) and had NO service whatsoever.  Well, this was the first time I drove straight from work back home.  Should be easy enough to backtrack, right? ummm, not when you are new to town and directionally challenged! Duh, Emily. Our phones are our GPS and it just so happened that mine had no service when I took the wrong turn - all 4 of them. But I eventually found my way back home =)
Day 6 - Thursday --> apparently my brain died on this day because I remember nothing
Day 7 - Friday --> I started functioning again and learned that the food options are overwhelming. Tanner's parents came in town to visit and trying to decide where to eat was so nervewracking! We had eaten at someone's house every night so far so we hadn't had a chance to try any of the restaurants.  Looking at the map of options I just couldn't handle it.  We chose a Barbeque place called Rudy's. Good choice. Definitely had the college town feel to it and made me miss those days (sort of).

All in all, it's been a good first week.  Even though I am terribly homesick, I am looking forward to what the weeks ahead hold for us.

Blessings and cryfest

I am writing this from my new blogger app on my phone since my husband took the computer and internet router...so...sorry for random spellings and typos. I will try to correct them but im sure I will eventually give up and just leave you to decipher. If you are someone I text frequently you are used to it already :)
I  am sitting in our house by myself with no tv and no internet and no dog. I should be incredibly happy because our realtor and future tenants just left after signing a one year lease for our home! Again, God's perfect timing as Tanner left ten minutes ago for Texas and I leave saturday. Everything has just gone so smoothly and it is just overwhelming to think about how all of the details have been meticulously ironed out for us. However, right now, what is more overwhelming for me is the sadness. (and the aggitation at my phone). Our first year of marriage was spent in this home. I know it is just a house...a structure that wasnt even built by us. But it was a home for us.. Our first one. And there are so many memories here. We will never have another movie night with a pallet on the floor or game night with hot tea and settlers. Yes we can have all that in our new house but will it be the same? The silence and loneliness is overpowering. And my family is still just ten minutes away. What will it be like when they are eight hours away. .? In just one week this will be the case. I am constantly praying for peace and comfort. I am always asking God to just let me keep in the tears for a few more minutes so I can get to seclusion before they all come pouring out. I put on a brave face but inside I am trembling with fear. There is no doubt that we are following God, so why the fear? I know it will get better with time and once we get there and settled my fears will ease. And I know it could be so much worse. I mean, we are only going 8 hourse...its not like we are leaving the country.But you dony know our family. (ok, maybe you do). If you dont...our family is amazing. I used to think they were normal but I realize now theu are an exception. We are extremely close-knit. For the past 12 years I have gone to visit my grandparents at least once a week. We have monthly birthday dinners to celebrate whoevers birthdays are that month. We sometimes just have random sunday lunches because there are no birthdays that month. And now I am leaving all of that. My grandparents arent getting younger...they arent going to be around much longer. My heart literally aches just thinking about leaving them. My family is my world.  They are always there when we need something...and even when we dont. This week is going to be a killer. I know I cant do it alone. Please pray for us whenever you think to do so. Pray for Tanner as he travels this afternoon and again this weekend to come get me. Pray that his firsy week at work will go smoothly for him and the rest of the staff. Pray for us as a couple amd a family that we can grow closer during this time of transition and change. That we can learn to depend solely on one another and God. Everyone says its the best thing for a marriage to live away from family for a while. And while I believe them and am looking forward to the time we can grow even closer, I am still scared out of my mind. Please also pray for my licensure situation. I have to get state licensure from dept of health and dept of ed. So far they are both proving to be slow and tedious processes. I know God is in control amd he has shown us that multiple times in this process. He has provided us with so many blessings and we deserve none of them. I  thankful that we serve a marvelous and caring God who wraps us in his love and peace during times of fear.

BIG NEWS!!

Ok, sooo....I've got some really big news!!! ya ready for it?.... We're moving! I bet you thought we were having a baby, huh? Nope. Just moving to Bryan, Texas...sorry for the disappointment. =) Anyways, I figured it was time to let everyone know.  It has been in the works all summer and we finally set the date for Labor Day weekend.  I'll start from the beginning and tell the whole story - it's really an amazing one. In April, Tanner gets a phone call from some random guy at First Baptist Church in Bryan, Texas.  They are creating a Media Director position and Tanner's name came up in conversation.  And while my husband is AMAZING at what he does, no, he's not famous enough yet to be that well known. =) Notice I said "yet" because one day he will be! Tanner's dad is a music minister and was on staff with the pastor who is now at FBC Bryan.  Just from meeting him once, the pastor remembered that this was Tanner's line of work and had heard that he was really good, so he put his name in the hat.  Hence, the random phone call.  At first, we were both kind of on the fence of whether or not we wanted to even consider it.  We were just getting settled in our new home and jobs and we are really comfortable in Hattiesburg.  My family is here, so of course I am biased to the area.  But we both agreed we shouldn't close the door immediately.  So, Tanner skype-interviewed with them and began the process.  Throughout it all, we fervently prayed that God would show us His will and open/close any necessary doors.  We even thought maybe it was God just telling us we need to look elsewhere...not necessarily Bryan, TX, but that it was coming time for us to move on from Hattiesburg.  Well, in time, God closed every other door we tried to open.  Except Bryan.  The process continued through the summer, with God slamming all kinds of doors in both of our faces.  It was a rough process, but we finally said, Ok God we get it...Bryan, TX it is.  I mean, seriously...why could it not have been Colorado or Tennessee...? If we were going to pick up our lives and move 8 hours away, couldn't it at least be to an outdoorsy town that wasn't even HOTTER than where we live - I didn't even think that was possible! But, God's plan is perfect =) and he continues to show us that every day.  We had the opportunity to meet some of the staff and members of FBC and can I just tell you, they are amazing! From the very beginning they have been MORE than helpful and continuously shower us with God's love.  So - we put our house up for sale.less than a year after buying it.and it's still there.and it looks like it will be for a while. And I started looking for a job.  I put out my resume for every facility, school and hospital, in the Bryan/College Station area.  I had some possibilities, but nothing was panning out.  I was hoping for a school job because of the holidays and schedule, but I would take anything that meant income.  Well, last week, a friend that we had meet in Bryan, who happens to be a speech pathologist also, got a call from a company saying they had a position in a nearby school.  She told them she wasn't interested, but had a friend that was.  So the next day I called them - I had never heard of them before, so I was kind of nervous about that and the job was 50 miles away.  I just didn't think I could handle that.  Well, the same afternoon, the company I used to work for - and love! - called me.  I told them I had an option but wasn't happy with it because it was so far away.  So, they got on the phone and called every school within 50 miles of Bryan! What a company! And they found something...turns out, it's the same job! EXCEPT...it's only 30 miles from town AND it's only 4 days a week! But the same salary - can you say thank you Lord! This amazing school district just outside of Bryan, had hired someone to fill this position last May, but LAST WEEK, the girl got accepted to graduate school out of state so it suddenly opened up.  Another door God swung wide open for us. And since it's through a contract company, and our house hasn't sold yet, I will get a tax-free stipend for the job being so far away from our "home address" I love how God makes the best out of bad situations! And so, here we are.  This is Tanner's last week of work at Temple and he begins his new adventure the last Monday of August. I will hopefully join him Labor Day weekend (they have to fill my job at school before I can leave). Our house will stay on the market - for sale or lease - while we are able to live at the mission home for the church. Yet another answered prayer and opened door.  Please keep us in your prayers.  Even though I know God is all over this situation, it's a very scary thing.  I've never lived away from my parents except for my freshman year at college and even then I came home every other weekend.  I hated it with a passion.  My family is extremely close and my grandparents aren't going to be around much longer.  Not to mention my precious niece that has stolen my heart.  I struggle daily, even hourly, with putting my complete faith and trust in God to fill the hole in my heart.  Everyone says that moving away from family is the best thing that can happen to newlyweds. And I AM excited that we are going to be slightly closer to his parents - they are wonderful and I can't wait to hopefully spend more time with them.  However, I know the next few months are going to be extremely tough - as individuals, as a couple and as a family.  So, please join us in continually praying that God's will be done in this situation. That we would continue to give complete control to Him and not try to control everything within our comfort zone.   I know Tanner's gift is going to be used in a mighty way to exalt Christ.  I can't wait to being our new life in Bryan even though I'm going to miss our life here.  Well, sorry if I disappointed you about our news not being a baby, but maybe one day =)