As Of Late

Another year, another failed resolution to blog more often!  I do enjoy it, I just don't always have a knack for turning the everyday into blogworthy posts.  Maybe every once in awhile I'll have a moment of brilliance but typically not.  And trust me- you would get booooorrrrred sitting and reading about my current every day life!

So that big snowfall we had awhile back?  My hubby was all gung ho about going out in it!  I just sat and observed from the kitchen window:)  You can't blame me completely though- he has all the right apparel and I don't!  But he had plenty of fun without me.

When he came in, I thought it was so sweet and cute that he made "Danny and Sarah" snow people.  But he informed me that I was wrong, and he actually had created a pirate and an old lady!  They kept me company throughout the next week, watching me through the kitchen window.  But just one week after their creation, they met their demise in the 40 degree weather:(

Awhile back we went out to eat and bowling to celebrate my brother-in-law's 30th birthday.  I wasn't quite sure which was bigger- my belly or the bowling ball!

Last week I headed out to Illinois to register for baby showers!  It was a really fun time and got me all excited to meet our baby girl!  Not that I wasn't excited before:)

While I was doing our 2014 scrapbook, I realized we were complete failures and didn't take any pictures last year of our first Valentine's Day together!  So this year when we headed out, I had my camera in tow, bound and determined to document the evening.  Guess how many pictures I took?  One!  Guess how romantic that picture is?  See for yourself!

He's a keeper, I tell ya!  He's about to devour the longest french fry I have ever seen in my life!  And everybody should know that the long fries are the best kind.  We had $10 to use at Smokey Bones BBQ, but $10 doesn't get to far there:)  So we planned our evening to end up there when the late night menu started so we could get some cheaper prices!  If you're ever at Smokey Bones and aren't counting calories, may I suggest the loaded cheese fries?  Danny is still talking about them!  But keep in mind- you can't be counting calories!  But boy were they tasty:)

Well, that's life these days.  Nothing really out of the ordinary but it's been good!

Sailing The High Seas

We set out on a cruise last week for our first anniversary/babymoon.  Granted, our anniversary isn't until March, but it was a lot cheaper to go in early January.  Plus, we found out that I wouldn't be able to get on the ship if I was past 24 weeks pregnant.  So last week it was!

The trip started out with a bang, as we found out literally minutes before walking out the door that our flight from Indy was cancelled because of the ice.  So the original plan was to have a relatively short drive with supper at The Cheesecake Factory before a relaxing night at our hotel.  That plan turned into a 3 1/2 hour drive to Chicago on icy, snowy roads and a late arrival at our hotel before crashing into bed for a few very short hours.  Although we did still manage to find The Cheesecake Factory close to where we were staying the night:)

The top deck of the ship and the Tampa skyline:

As we were pulling out of the port in Tampa, there was a rowing team either having a competition or practicing- we weren't sure.  Either way, they were fast enough to pass the ship!

The second day we woke up to warm air and sunshine!  We were at sea all day but there was plenty to do to keep us busy, like playing mini golf on the top deck of the ship:)

It's not every day that my view from the treadmill looks like this!  Oh wait, it's not every day that I even HAVE a view from the treadmill.  This was just my one day of being all motivated to get a little exercise whilst on vacation.  That, and taking the stairs the majority of the time.  There were a LOT of stairs.

Danny did the rock climbing wall while I sunbathed and read my book.

Formal night- I think we might have been about the most casually dressed ones there!

First stop- the Cayman Islands!

There is a town on Grand Cayman Island called Hell.  It had some kind of weird rock formations to look at, plus a little gift shop.  Please know that even though I have a few pictures of the place, I do NOT think that hell is anything to joke about.

In fact, I was awfully glad to see this painted on the side of the gift shop while we were there!

We also went to a turtle farm in Grand Cayman.  They have a breeding pool with several hundred giant green sea turtles.  (Think "Finding Nemo")  The turtles were huge!!  They can get up to 600 pounds.  They are raised for research and released into the ocean.  We held some of the smaller turtles and snorkeled in a lagoon with some medium sized ones.  It was pretty neat, but I think we both liked our second excursions better.

Next stop: Cozumel!  We actually split up this day and did two separate excursions.  So romantic, right?  But Danny really wanted to go scuba diving and I have an irrational fear of the ocean and have no desire to scuba dive really didn't.  Plus, they wouldn't let me because I'm pregnant.  So while he did that, I went to a salsa making class!  The class was called "Salsa, Salsa, and Margaritas".  We made six different types of salsa, two types of margaritas (or in my case- limeade), and were taught to salsa dance.  The dancing was mild enough that I think even my grandma could do it!  They had everyone work in pairs so I was pretty happy to meet another girl going stag:)  I spent the whole time with my salsa making buddy, Margaret from Tampa.

Danny and I both really enjoyed our different excursions.  I would not have liked his and he would not have liked mine.  But it was great to meet up again and be back together at the end of the day!  (By the way, I know I look fabulous in that hat!)

Just in case the ship sunk, we were prepared thanks to the life vests in our closet!

After one more day at sea, we got back to Tampa and were ready to fly home.  We had about five hours to kill at the airport and we found a little grassy area out in the sunshine where we could sit and watch planes take off.  It was one last fun and relaxing thing to do before we headed home.  Well, besides the fact that an airport worker saw us and called the cops who came to check up on us.  They were really nice and we didn't get in trouble- they just wanted to make sure we weren't hurt or drunk.

Oh, and somehow this picture got out of order.  These are the rock formations in Hell in Grand Cayman.  Not sure why it showed up here, but here it is!

It was great to be gone and I suppose it was good to come home as well.  Life must go on, right?  I was a little bit leery of a cruise when we first booked it, but I would do it again!

Drumroll Please.......

When we had Danny's side family Christmas we hid a little matchbox with the verdict inside and whoever found it got to open it up and tell everyone the news.

Our niece found it and after painstakingly opening the box, (seriously- it took forever!) she let everyone know that...........................

...........................................................................

.............................................................................

..........................................................................

......................................................................

.....................................................................

.......................................................................

..................................................................................

.................................................................................

...............................................................................

............................................................................

..............................................................................

..........................................................................

...............................................................................

.................................................................................

.................................................................................

..............................................................................

.............................................................................

...........................................................................

..............................................................................

................................................................................

............................................................................

...........................................................................

...................................................................................

.............................................................................

....................................................................................

......................................................................................

.....................................................................................

....................................................................................

..........................................................................

............................................................................

..................................................................................

..................................................................................................

..............................................................................................................

.........................................................................................................

.................................................................................................

The "another" part is just because there's already an abundance in that family.  Not because we already have one!!  We just got home from our second ultrasound and everything looks great!  Honestly, it took a little getting used to since we both wanted a boy, but now we're excited!  Especially since she'll have 2 and maybe 3 other girl cousins her same age:)  Now to settle on her name...

Wrapping Up 2014

Well, once we got everything moved in, we had two days to get partially organized before family Christmases started up.  It felt like a little bit of a whirlwind but it was much anticipated and really fun!  After church on Christmas day, we came home and had our own little Christmas.  Technically not our first Christmas together since we were engaged last year, but our first one without parents in the next room as we tried to exchange gifts with just the two of us!

Then it was off to Danny's side of the family for the big overnighter.  Except we cheated a little and came home to sleep.  But we just got our own bed back which is SO comfy and cozy, AND we were all packed to leave for a week the next day.  So it was just easier to do it that way this time.  But we stayed late and went back for breakfast the next morning!

We did a progressive pregnancy picture-

Jessica: due in July

Me: due in May

Cassie: induced one day after the picture

Sonya: baby born in October

The menfolk posed for a quick picture after their rendition of Little Drummer Boy.  It's rather entertaining:)

The kids put on a nativity play for us- entirely written and directed (with background music and special lighting) by our oldest niece.  They did a great job!

The next day we were off to Illinois- and got to stay for almost a whole week!  I was not complaining!  Little buddy was feeling sick so he's not really showing it, but he was pretty excited to have his own pair of boots.  Just like daddy and grandpa!

Present time!

We happened to be there during turkey load out day and Danny got in on all the "fun".  He now has a renewed sense of appreciation for his desk job!

Game night with some of my favorite people in the world.

New Year's Eve was spent eating snacks, relaxing, and playing incredibly intense games like Hungry Hungry Hippo and The Farming Game.  It was a really fun night!

I hated to leave, but it sure was nice to come back to our own home and be able to officially take down the building permit sign from the window!

Looking forward to what's in store for 2015!

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:)