Pink Or Blue??

The last time I went to the doctor, we finished up by scheduling my next appointment which will include the big gender reveal!  

BUT

A couple weeks ago, I had some concerns that resulted in an early and unexpected ultrasound!(Everything is fine, we just had to go check to make sure.)  But that ultrasound was late enough in my pregnancy that we were able to find out sooner than we thought!  

We told our families at Christmas and now we'll tell the rest of you!  But not for a few days yet:)  First you have to vote.

Some things to consider:
- Danny's family has a very strong representation of girls.  It seems to be the common theme as there are 11 girls and only 3 boys thus far.  There must be something in the water.

HOWEVER

- With the exception of about three of my sister in laws, most people in both sides of the family strongly suspected that it's a boy.

So will this baby follow the trend and be a girl?  Or are all those suspicions true?  You decide!! You can vote in the poll in the top right corner of my blog.  The poll closes next Monday (January 5), which is the night before our sonogram that has been scheduled all along.

Happy voting!!

This World Is Not Our Home, But.....

Well the house is a mess and I am worn out but we are here!!  And we are thankful.  We feel pretty undeserving, actually.  We're not sure if it's something God specifically intended for us to go through or not.  The question I always wonder is, would this have happened no matter which house we had bought?  Or did it just so happen to this house and we just so happened to buy it?  Regardless, His hand has been in it and we feel blessed.  

Now how about some pictures!  If you missed the previous post, that's where all the before pictures are.  Structurally, the kitchen is basically the same.  Since all the plumbing and wiring was already in place there wasn't a whole lot we could do different.  But we did extend the counter, put in a stove top oven, and new microwave above the stove.  We got new light fixtures and the soffet (I have NO idea how to spell that-it's that part of the ceiling that was lower than the rest) was taken out.  And that bright green paint went bye-bye.  It's so much more open looking and much brighter lighting!

Like I said in the last post, the living room didn't change much.  The big walls used to be more of a beige color and now they are more gray.  We have that same gray throughout the whole house with a few different colors splattered here and there.

The bathroom is still yellow, but a little more subdued than the other yellow we had before.  And we got a new counter top, faucet, and floor.  It wasn't actually damaged but it was something we had wanted to do anyway so we decided to just do it while the rest of the house was getting done.

And then there's the basement..... Danny loves the color orange and would have loved to paint the whole thing orange.  But he has a wife who does not share his affinity for the color.  So he settled on one wall.  And I have to say, I like it a lot better than I thought I would!  But I'm glad we did just one wall and kept the rest gray:)

We went with gray (it's my favorite neutral color) for the siding with white trim.  Our bedroom, bathroom, and the other two bedrooms are pretty much the same so I didn't post any pictures of that.

While there have been changes made, there is yet one thing that remains.  That pink bathtub and toilet!  We just couldn't justify changing those out when all they needed was a good cleaning.  There may come a day when we move out of this house and I find myself missing those pink bathroom fixtures, but until then I just have to smile and shake my head at them:)

Now our prayer is that we can use this house for God's glory.  Whether by keeping it a safe haven for our family, making others feel welcome and comfortable in it, or whatever it might be, we don't want to take it for granted!  Thank you to everyone who offered prayers on our behalf.  We are grateful for them!

Merry Christmas To Us!!

We are so excited that in just ONE week all of our stuff will be coming back from storage and we will be able to move back HOME!!!  Here's just a few pictures to remind you of the before stages of this process.

Things will look a little different than before- especially in the kitchen.  The living room will pretty much be the same, because I really did like the blue.  After we painted that green kitchen, I decided it was just a little too bright but was just going to live with it because it was finished and we didn't want to paint anymore for awhile.  But that theory only lasted about a week.

We are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO happy to be past this point!  (Can't add enough "O's" there...)

As I was looking through the pictures I saw this one and remembered taking it right after the fire.  Five months later, it's still true!  It just about makes me cry to look at those words.  But then again, a lot of things make me cry these days.  Gotta love those raging hormones:)

For real though- we didn't always have the greatest of attitudes and there were days when it felt like we would N.E.V.E.R. see progress.  But God met and exceeded all of our needs and has most definitely shown us His faithfulness.

And if you ever are in a position where you need fire damage restoration, we highly recommend J Yoder Inc out of Ft. Wayne.  They were great to work.  They gave us high hopes of being in before Christmas and they didn't let us down!

Hopefully I'll manage to get a post in next week of our "after" pictures!  Woo Hoo:)

Pregnancy And Other Stuff

I'm 15 weeks today!  According to my handy "What to Expect" app, the wee one is roughly the size of an orange now.  Significantly bigger than the little pea it once was!  My next appointment is December 2 and I'm getting pretty anxious to go hear the heartbeat again.  Then I think the appointment after that one will be when we get to find out what we're having!  Yes, we will find out and yes, we will tell.  Not the name- just the gender.  We're both way to curious to keep it a surprise.

I never threw up, but I was pretty nauseous from week 6 to week 13ish.  I still have moments, especially in the evenings when I don't feel great, but overall I am much better.  Which I'm so thankful for because I was getting pretty discouraged by the end of October and just wanted to feel good again.  If I ever have some sort of chronic condition where I never feel good, I will require a LOT of grace to press on and not complain.

Okay- new topic.

I'm so excited to decorate for Christmas and go Christmas shopping!  Except the problem is, I'm not sure where we're going to be living in the next few weeks.  I'll probably do a few basic decorations here in the trailerhood but I don't want to get a bunch of stuff set out and then a week later have to pack it all up to move back into our house.  The contractor still seems to think we'll be back by Christmas!  But who knows... maybe I should just deck the halls of the trailer anyway:)

Well, this is pretty short and boring but it's just been so long since I did a post.  And we have almost a whole Saturday at home doing not much of anything so I figured now would be a good time to get one done.

We are looking forward to being with family and friends next week for Thanksgiving- I hope you are too!  We truly have so much to be thankful for.

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning."  James 1:17

Then And Now

Just shy of one year ago, I went on my very first date ever.

Now, after a wedding, a honeymoon, another vacation, a house fire, living in grandma's house, another vacation, a new job, and moving into a trailer temporarily....

I'm pregnant!!

That escalated quickly:)

Baby Bertsch due May 16, 2015!

It's Coming Along!

Drywall and ceilings are up!

And we have high hopes of being back in by Christmas!!  It's not a for sure thing, but the contractor thinks there's a really good chance.  He's been great to work with and really good about keeping things moving.

The new siding is up too.

It's supposed to be gray but I can't decide if it looks more tan than gray.  Kinda depends on the light I think.

Oh, and tonight we had some pretty cute trick-or-treaters stop by:)

Harvest Makes Me Happy:)

We had a gooooooood weekend!  I love me some harvest time and I have MISSED it this year!  Working at the elevator, riding around in the combine and semi..... it's home.  And this weekend I finally got a taste of it.  I mean, that's not ALL we did, but it's the biggest reason we went.  Plus it had been way too long for my liking and was it was just time.

We got to meet baby Wren for the first time too!  That's my cousin's baby.  She's pretty cute, except for within the first 10 seconds of me holding her she puked all over me.  Oh well.  She's still cute and sweet.

After lunch at Caleri's (of course) it was out to the field!  Not only did I get some combine time and a few rounds to the elevator, I also got to weigh a few trucks while I went in to say hi at the elevator.  It was pretty much a dream come true:)  But then they broke down and we left the field and that was pretty much the end of my harvest experience for the weekend.

I had requested a wiener roast for supper on Sunday cause I haven't been to one yet this fall and it just sounded really good.  It as a little too windy to be outside but we still had a fire long enough to roast the hot dogs before taking them inside!

And after supper we quick went out to try and get some marshmallows roasted for s'mores but the fire had dwindled to just a few coals and some smoke.  But we managed!  I just wanted a picture of it because I thought it looked funny how all of us were so crowded around the tiniest fire ever trying to roast marshmallows:)

We had a few minutes before it was time to leave so we got in on a little bit of pumpkin carving.  Cooper really did like it a lot more that what this picture depicts!  He was all into it, digging into the guts, grinning and telling us all about it:)  

The girls were having a great time too.  It was so hard to leave them!  I just love those kiddos so much.  The weekend went way to fast for my liking and I'm considering going back this week since I have fall break:)  I haven't decided yet though if I will or not.

If only we could have Danny's family and my family live close to each other...

House Update

We have progress, folks!!  After what seems like an eternity, things are finally happening!  About three weeks after the fire, a company came in and cleaned up all the wet carpet and insulation in order to prevent further damage.

And then the house just sat.  For almost two months.  And it was a frustrating lesson in patience.  I'm no dummy though- I know the lesson isn't over yet!  While it was just sitting, the tarp on the roof started collecting water each time it rained and getting more and more saggy until it looked like it was about to burst through.  It never did burst, but it leaked pretty bad.  Good thing we were getting new floors anyway, right?

The landscaping has not fared well.  I've never claimed to have a green thumb.  In fact, quite the opposite.  But this one vine/weed thing has taken over the backyard it seems.  I'm pretty sure even I would keep things under control a little better if we had been there.  Maybe next year?

However, the daisies have done great.  Even without us being there!  A lot of times when I stop by, I pull a few weeds in the smaller planters we have so that's probably helped.  But at one point in the whole ordeal Danny reminded me that God even takes care of the daisies, and we didn't even have to do anything!  He's definitely going to take care of us, too.

And THEN.  That GLOOOORIOUS day!!  When we got a text from Danny's sister with a picture of the contractor's van in our driveway.  We were so excited!!!  The kitchen is completely gone, as are two walls of drywall in the living room.  I drive past everyday on my way to work and this morning I could see that a big part of the roof was gone too.  I'm stopping by to look at some stuff tomorrow and am excited to see what else has been done!

It would be my dream to get in by Christmas, but I know that's highly unlikely.  It will probably be January or February.  (That patience thing, you know.)  So until then, we will stay in our 

Home, Sweet Temporary Home:)

Moore (get it?) Birthday Fun:)

Sorry for the bad pun in the title- I just couldn't help it!  Saturday morning, bright and early, seven of us headed to Ft. Wayne for the Beth Moore conference.  I was SO excited to have some of my friends come out from IL, and even MORE excited when one who I haven't seen since our wedding showed up!!  She's one of those friends who I told almost everything to.  So to not see her for that long of time was saaaadddd:(  But there she was!  Anyway.  We had to split up at the conference because some of the girls didn't get signed up in time.  But for those of us who did- we found great seats!  On the floor, four rows back from the stage!  It was such an uplifting day- one that all of us were glad we had.

After the conference we had supper at Chili's and dessert at DeBrands.  It was only the second time I was there.  Shameful, I know.

Here's the crew- I love them all!

With my lovely Illinois fair maidens:)

So, so thankful for my dear friends!

My Burfday!

I, for one, still love having birthdays!  I start anticipating it about a month before and I try to celebrate it for a full week:)  It finally came around again on September 3rd, just like it does every year!  That Monday, on Labor Day, we decided to make a cake that we could enjoy all week long. Chocolate cake just happens to be my favorite dessert so of course that's what we went with.  But this isn't just any chocolate cake from a box.  This is Deep Dark Chocolate Cake made from scratch, that even my "cake is my least favorite dessert" hubby thought was great!  We could only scrounge up nine candles which was probably for the better since I still had trouble getting them all blown out in one breath.  I would have been passed out cold with 32!

That morning Danny made me breakfast which was a pretty big deal because he's not a huge breakfast eater and I'm a firm believer in it.  When I picked up my toast, I saw a picture of Beth Moore!  I had hinted a few months back that her conference in Ft. Wayne this Saturday might be a good idea and he pulled through!  He even convinced some of my IL friends to come out for it:)

Since my actual birthday was on a Wednesday we waited to go out for it until Friday.  We went to Takaoka Japanese Steakhouse (don't have pictures), did "the bookstore date", and came back to watch Mom's Night Out.  Even though I'm not a mom it was still really good!  All you girls that are in the trenches of motherhood right now should definitely see it!

The bookstore date was one I got from the Dating Divas website.  A lot of their ideas I think are kind of cheesy, and this one was too, but I did enjoy it!  The idea is to go to a large bookstore and find things in different sections you each like.  We each picked out a recipe that looked good in the food section, a vacation we would like to take in the travel section, a kids book we liked in the children's section, and so on and so forth.  Something a little different to do!  And of course you have to read the kid's books out loud:)

The only problem with getting so excited over a birthday is that you're let down again after just a short 24 hours.  But there's always next year!

Bits & Pieces

I Got A Job!

That's right folks:)  Sarah is finally employed!  A couple weeks ago I started working at a preschool here in town.  I'm there Monday through Friday from 8:30-12:00.  The hours are great, the kids are cute, and it's good to be back in that atmosphere!  It's definitely taking a little getting used to though.  Sometimes I wonder how I ever did it for eight hours at a time!  It's getting better, but the first few days I was completely wiped out after that short amount of time.  I felt like such a wimp!  I have a theory though.  I've always been in more of a daycare type setting, where there is a lot more down time.  This being a preschool, not a minute is wasted and we cram a LOT into just a couple hours.  I don't really know if I like it better or worse, it's just something a little different.  But I am very glad to have a job though.  I was starting to get pretty bored at home all the time!

House Update

Well, it looks like it's gonna be awhile at this rate.  We are pretty much at a standstill.  Waiting, waiting, and more waiting on insurance!  Our contractor got his estimate done, but we still don't know about the estimate from insurance.  For three weeks, the wet insulation and carpet just sat, which made us worry about mold growth.  So there was a company that came and cleaned that mess up, but we can't get started with the actual reconstruction process until the insurance approves everything.  Danny's grandma is moving home from the nursing home on Saturday and we're not sure where we're going to go after that!  We will most likely be living here with her for a little while, but do plan to move somewhere else once we get that figured out.  There are days when I really am okay just waiting everything out, and there are days when my frustration with the slow process runs high.  But then God helps me get my perspective back in check and life moves on.

My Grandpa

 A few weeks ago my grandpa passed on from this life to his eternal home.  We were out in Illinois for a wedding that weekend anyway, so when he died on Saturday night, I just decided to stay until the funeral and everything was over.  Danny came back to work a little bit and then back out to IL.  He was ready to be done being on the road!

My grandpa was an extremely kind and generous man who touched so many people.  He lived what he preached and always treated people with love.  Growing up with that, sometimes I didn't realize how much he meant to people because to me, he was my grandpa and I guess I just didn't know any better.  But seeing how many people came through the visitation and funeral gave a glimpse of how many lives he touched.  And seeing my grandma say goodbye one last time before they closed the casket was heart-wrenching at best. Per grandpa's request, all the grandkids sang a song together at the graveside.  That's something him and grandma love- listening to us sing together.  So much that we all got together and made a CD for them a few years back which they they passed out to all their family and friends like it was the greatest thing ever recorded!  But anyway, it made singing at the funeral pretty special.  #239 in the Hymns of Zion will never be the same for me!

He always went on and on about how much he hoped and prayed I could get married.  I don't think he realized that I really was okay, and would have continued being okay with being single!  I wonder if it's because he loved grandma so much and wanted me to be able to have that too.  But regardless, I'm so thankful he could be there to see that:)  He will be missed, that's for sure!

Six Months!!

We've made it to the six month mark as of today!  Trust me- I know six months really isn't very long at all.  But we feel some sense of accomplishment or something.  I guess I'm not exactly sure what it is.  It's been a joy sharing life with Danny!  We're kind of hoping the next six months is a little more uneventful that the first:)

My First "Lakes" Experience

Last week we went with Danny's family to "The Lakes".  I put that in quotes because I always thought it was weird to make it plural when you actually just go to one lake.  But I have had it explained to me how there's a bunch of lakes close together in that area and maybe some are connected or something like that.  Therefore, it's the lakes.  I can understand that.  But I don't however, say stones.  They're rocks.  Plain and simple.  Anyway- I think that might officially make me a Blufftonite.  Going to the lakes I mean.  Regardless, we had a great time!  

Cooking breakfast on our day to feed everyone

Lots of cute kiddos

Taking a bike ride to a small, nearby pond for a little peace and quiet away from said cute kiddos

My first ever ride on a jet ski.  It wasn't horrible but it wasn't as fun as everyone said it was.  I'm just not real adventurous!  (Much to my hubby's dismay.)

Also my first time ever golfing.  The day before we went we went to a driving range to practice.  Since the only golf club I had ever held was while playing putt putt.  I was terrible.  But I liked it good enough to go again next year!

iPad time:)

Princess of the boat

Watching Danny and Ryan ski together and show off have fun together

Enjoying a dip in the lake

Showing the red and pink candy that was in the pinata that we had, saying that Aunt Cassie is going to have a GIRL!

Putt putt- way more in my comfort zone than the golf course:)

Lots of turtles were caught (and released) throughout the week!

And a few fish were caught too.

Trying to learn to ski for the first time!

What a great week!