Think Pink

My coworker, Emily, is pregnant. It's kind of interesting when you work at a pregnancy center and a staff member is pregnant! We have enjoyed sharing in Emily's excitement as she and Ben anticipate the arrival of their little one. Many of us have been predicting the gender of the baby - with lots of guesses for a boy, I said it's a girl. Yesterday Emily and Ben found out they are indeed having a little girl!!

As soon as Micaela and I heard the news, we decided to decorate Emily's office with all things GIRL! We got pink balloons, streamers, and confetti. We wore pink and purple and got pink candy, a pink flower, and a pink gift - an elephant bank to start her college fund! We did this before Emily came into work, and it brought a smile to her face when she came in.

We are looking forward to meeting this little girl, and we loved celebrating with her mommy today!

To Grandmother's House We Go

Nate and I spent some time in Canandaigua visiting my grandparents for a couple of days. After stopping in Skaneateles for their Dicken's Christmas, we joined my grandparents for a dinner my grandma had made. My grandpa sets up his own Dicken's Village in their basement every Christmas, so we checked that out. We played a card game, drove around to check out Christmas lights, and just enjoyed the evening together.

In the morning, we went out for breakfast at a little cafe/diner that my grandpa goes to almost every morning. Three of us got the french toast special, and it was yummy! It was neat to get a peak into my grandparents lives during the time we spent with them. We also went over to their church to see where they are involved in ministry.

Grandpa travels to Ecuador every spring with a group from their church. He showed us some pictures and videos of recent trips, and this led to a mini computer lesson on how to use a flash drive! Grandpa also writes stories about his younger years, so he read some of those to us.

With the Village on display, they have lots of guests during this Christmas season. Nate and I helped them get ready for having 14 people for dinner and a tour of the Village. Grandma also showed us the many paintings she has done over they years that are now displayed around the house. Their dog, Lizzy, kept us quite entertained - she just had a procedure done, so had a plastic guard around her head to keep her from licking it. She kept running into things, but she sure could still eat all of her treats from Grandpa!

We enjoyed our time with Grandma and Grandpa, and I'm thankful for their heart for the Lord. Their desire to serve and live for Him was so evident in their actions and in conversation. What an example they are sharing!

Mom Loves Her Projects!

My mom loves projects! She usually plans ahead before she tackles a project, but when our house flooded three months ago, she jumped right in and took on this new project! She has overseen rebuilding our home from the beginning, organizing days to clear out our house, making sure everything was sanitized and dried out properly, making decisions about what we needed to be able to move back in, coordinating work efforts to re-wire the electric, sheetrock the walls, and install kitchen cabinets, and so much more!

Mom has done all this while still continuing to work her regular job. She has done all this while still fulfilling her commitments at church. She has done all this while still keeping in touch with far away family. She has done all this while still having a joyful spirit. She has done all this while still wanting us to have a special Christmas.

She has put the house project on a slower pace lately, wanting time to celebrate Christmas. Our house progress has moved right along, and she is taking a well-deserved break! There is still plenty more to do after the holidays, and I hope she is able to get the rest she needs to gear up for the next step in this project!

Thank you, Mom, for the time you have put in and the commitment you have made to rebuilding our home. Many have been impressed by your positive attitude, and I appreciate your flexibility as we live together in a half-finished house. We will be able to look back on this experience with great memories! I know your true hope is in the Lord, and He has certainly blessed us with family and friends that care for us. Continue to allow them to wrap their arms around you during this time, encouraging you on this journey. I love you, Mom, and it is a joy to be a part of your family!

In the picture above, Mom is cleaning up after a painting project. She is how she also washed our dishes for a few weeks! We did not have a sink in the kitchen, but she wanted to move in anyway and agreed to wash the dishes in the bathtub. She has certainly made sacrifices during this time, and I hope she knows that they do not go unnoticed.

Looking Like a Kitchen

My uncle came down for a day this past week to install our lower kitchen cabinets and our kitchen sink! We now have running water on the first floor, and we hope to move kitchen items into the new cabinets soon. We still need to install the lazy susan in the corner and the dishwasher next to the sink. Counter tops will be in soon, and kick boards and knobs will come eventually.

We did redesign our kitchen less than ten years ago, and my mom like it just the way it was. That made it easier to make decisions about this new kitchen. She had the original layout and plans, so took those in when ordering cabinets. We did save the upper cabinets, and the store still had the exact match for the lower! We changed a few of the colors, and while we did save our old sink, Mom is excited about the new stove - it has a flat surface, unlike our old one! We have already done some cooking and baking in our new space, and are looking forward to it being done by Christmas.

While we are making progress at our house, homes around the area are at all different stages. I had the opportunity yesterday to help clear out a house down the road. This place had not really been touched for 3 months. Friends of mine from Rochester came down for the day to work on it, so I joined them for the afternoon. We tore out walls and floors, and it was strange to think that my house used to look like that. Unlike us, many families are not rebuilding. Several homes around us have been sold or are for sale. The owner of the home we were at planned to sell the house after it was cleared out. I was glad to spend time helping at a house and being reminded of what others are still working on.

We are still moving forward and continue to appreciate encouragement, prayers, gifts, and support. God has given us a sense of joy and peace during this time through family and friends like you!

Lunch Break

This is Nate's first attempt at taking a picture of us - a little blurry, but I like it! I like it because it reminds me of the times I met him for lunch at his work. Since I have Fridays off, I would sometimes meet him for his lunch break. We met at a nearby Subway a couple times, but then we realized we would have more time if we just brought food and ate together in his truck. It was always fun to spend a little bit of time together on Friday afternoons, but yesterday was our last lunch together at Willow Run - where Nate works. His last day there is on Tuesday! He took a new job at Frito Lay with an undetermined start date at this point. He still put in his two weeks at Willow Run, looking forward to some time off in between around the holidays. He will still be working his part time job at Frito Lay until the transition to the full time driver's spot.

It will be a little harder for me to join Nate for lunch at his new job. He did say that he gets to take a passenger twice a year, so I'll have to join him on the road at some point! He is looking forward to this new position. He has been working at Willow Run for 6 years now, mostly as a yard jockey - moving trucks around in the yard and getting them ready to take out. [By the way! After our lunch on Friday, Nate drove me out back to the yard so I could see where he spends most of his day. I always enjoy seeing where people live or work, so I was glad to see that before his time there is through.] More recently, he picked up a part time job at Frito Lay, hoping to get in there full time eventually. A spot opened up for him, and he is looking forward to scaling down to just having one job.

Maybe Nate will have to come visit me for lunch now until he starts his new job!

Kitchen Floor

Our kitchen floor was installed today! That means all of our new appliances are in the front room - we can move them back tomorrow. For now we are running back and forth from our dining room in the back to the fridge in the front room for each meal!

Our lower kitchen cabinets also came today. My uncle is coming soon to install those. We'll need counter tops and the sink and the dishwasher set up with plumbing, and our kitchen will be back in business!

Friends have still been bringing us meals twice a week - they have been very helpful!

Mom is looking forward to having the kitchen complete. She is planning to take a break from making any decisions about the house until after Christmas - then she will work on the rest of the house!

Sharing our Interests

When I tell people about Nate, they usually think it's really great that we do stuff together! So many couples just watch movies and hang out, but we each have our hobbies and enjoy doing them together. Here are some of the things we have done together:

• Four Wheeling - The first time I hung out at Nate's house, he had a group from church over for four wheeling. I had only gone four wheeling once before, and he even let me drive for a bit! We've gone in the mud and in the dark, and we've taken it up to see the sunset at this house.
• Running - This is how Nate first asked me to hang out one-on-one. You see, the four wheeling went so well, he decided to show interest in something I enjoy. He found out I was doing a 5K for my work and pretty much became a runner over night! We ran together a few times before the race and have gone a couple of times since.
• Farkle - Something else Nate learned early on is that I love games! He had the dice game, Farkle at his house, and I noticed it after an evening run and four wheeler ride at his house. He got the game for his birthday, but had never even played it! Well, I changed that, I taught him this great game. Now Nate has started asking me if we can play Farkle when we are hanging out!
• Making Food - Nate had no clue how much I like making smoothies, but he suggested we make them that same night we played Farkle for the first time. Since then we have also made pizza, grilled cheese, and some breakfast foods together. I still need to show him some of my crock pot recipes!
• Motorcycle - Nate has a bike and took me for a ride the week before we started dating. We took it out together a few times since then to go hang out with friends and a longer ride to enjoy the fall leaves.
• Hiking - One place we took the motorcycle was to go hiking. We have gone hiking at a few places recently and always enjoy spending time outside together. Of course I bring my camera, and we look for some scenic views. It's usually very peaceful and a fun afternoon activity.
• Shooting - Nate has all the cool toys! He has a number of guns, and a few friends got together one Sunday afternoon to shoot clay birds. I had never shot a gun before, but I did manage to hit a few!
• Hunting - We shot clay birds before deer season, but Nate just took me out hunting! I got to wear orange and we sat in the words for about two and a half hours until the sun set. We saw four deer, but none were close enough to shoot. It was fun keeping an eye on them with the binoculars and spending time together - Nate did let me whisper every so often!

It is fun to share these activities with each other. We are both learning new things and can appreciate what the other enjoys. The time we spend together usually has purpose, and we enjoy getting to know each other through these activities.