Number 11

My sister just had her baby girl, Violet. Get ready for this... She arrived at the hospital at 5:30 this morning and delivered at 6:06, just 36 minutes later! Anyway, that's 11 neices and nephews. Number 12 to be born in October!

You make me smile

Hey girls! I don't have much to say right now because there's not really anything new happening this week. My brother got married on Saturday. It was lovely and stressful and exhausting and everything you would expect when your ADD little brother decides to do something like throw a wedding for 400 people. Dan and Lauren are on their cruise now and should return tomorrow. Their flight was delayed the morning after the wedding, which caused them to miss their connecting flight to Houston (cruise out of Galveston). So, they missed their cruise departure and had to fly to Jamaica to catch the boat at its first port. It worked out though because dad got them 2 nights in Jamaica at a Breezes resort for their wedding gift so that they wouldn't have to stay in the ghetto and get their fingers cut off for their wedding rings. Lauren spent the morning crying because they missed their cruise and then spent the evening crying because she was so excited about the all-inclusive resort in Jamaica. I think they're have a good time because Daniel sent us all a picture text message the morning after the wedding with his arms over his head and the title "Victory!" Anyways, after sleeping for like 2 days to recover from all the wedding chaos, I started working part-time doing some copy-writing for a friend of Kim and Adams and that has kept me very busy. I am writing about herbal supplements and I am now dreaming about vitamins and herbs all night long. Although, I'm also thinking about starting on a couple specific herbal regimens. I'm going to turn into a crazy, holistic, herbal supplement popping hippie by the time I'm done with this job. Also this week... we went out with mom and dad and Dave and Ben and Sarah and their kids on Tuesday night. David had a piece of art that was chosen to be displayed at the Young Masters art exhibit in the Troy Haner Center (where Kim got married). So we all got together for dinner and to see his art. It was very good by the way, he's quite talented. Anyways, we were at dinner and my nephew, Owen, stood up on his chair and shouted "Hey everybody! There's a baby in my mommy's tummy!" So, Sarah is pregnant again and is due December 24. I think they were ready and were planning to start trying around now anyways. But now the pressure is on because everyone expects us to follow suit pretty quickly and we're not quite ready yet. We close on our house on Wednesday and will be working furiously to get painting and stuff done so that we can move in ASAP and stop living with my parents. We have quite a bit to do and no money to do it, so that does take some of the fun out the renovations I have to admit. But, I will post pics of our new pad once we get things settled a bit. I feel like things have just been a whirlwind lately with weddings and work and moving and Josh's graduation is coming up. Also, both of my babies are sick and that can be time-consuming because they don't sleep and all they do is fuss and wipe snot everywhere. YUK! Lilah has been up every night for the past week because she's sick and last night she woke up with a 102 degree fever. I think she has developed an ear infection from the nasty cold she's had. The poor thing really feels yucky. Seth is handling it a bit better. So we would appreciate prayers for everyone to be healthy again.
Kim, your blog made me smile because you are able to put such a ray of light on life even when it's not perfect. I hope you get a job situation worked out that you enjoy a bit more. Although I will miss your discount. For the first time in my life, I have nice shoes! I also hope you get pregnant soon. Although, I do love little black babies. They just don't get much cuter. =) I know that God will work something out for you that is perfect and even though it is really difficult to go along with it right now, I'm sure that you and Adam and your future babies (whatever color they may be) have wonderful blessings ahead. And if you do have like quintuplets or something, I'm sure that your Sapphire sisters would be happy to at least help you out with them so you can take a nap or go shopping or whatever. (And I really would take one or two if you want. hehehe... just kidding... no, I'm not).
Love you girls!

Catching up

It's almost the weekend and it cannot come soon enough. I was supposed to have my annual performance review at work today (groan) but it looks like it will be taking place next week instead. I can't believe I've been here for a year already. A whole year of my life dedicated to shoes. It's been a good run but I think it might be time for me to start looking for something else.

 

So there's been some more turmoil on the family front. Adam's step-dad, Ken, moved out and will probably be divorcing Adam's mom sometime soon. This wasn't completely unexpected – he's been a not-nice person for a while now – but it's still been sort of a difficult time for everyone. Especially for Kendra, Adam's younger sister, who is about to graduate from high school. Anyway, we'd appreciate prayers for his family, and for us, because it's a little freaky when almost every adult in your life is getting divorced. Okay, maybe not every adult, but sometimes it feels like that.

 

We're still trying to multiply the Linds – so far, without any luck. My doctor put me on a fertility drug last month, which increases our chances of having multiple babies. But if any more than two come out, we're going to ship them out to you all. 

It is hard to let go and trust that someone has a better plan for your life than you do, especially when you want something so badly. But maybe that's part of the process for us. Needless to say, we will be overjoyed when it happens. And if it never does, expect some little black Sapphire babies to be adopted into the family.

 

I guess that's all the news from Seattle for right now. Hope you all have lovely weekends!

 

The circle of life...

Today I had to take my brother to the dealership to get his truck (it was in the shop). On the way back I went past a farm and one of their little lambs was outside the fence. He didn't seem to mind that much though. There is very tall grass outside the fence and he seemed to be enjoying that. There was another one just inside the fence keeping him company as well and also trying hard to enjoy the tall grass. However, it happens to be next to a busy 2 lane road and I'm just hoping the lamb doesn't get any ideas to wonder out onto the road.
So here's the cool thing, I know the people who live there cause we used to live right across the street. The cooler thing is, my mom is going there today to take one of the Amish ladies to the doctor, so I called my mom right away to tell her to tell them to save the little lamb from its possible fate. How cool is that. I could be responsible for saving a little lambs life today. I'm feeling pretty good about that.

Whoops...

Meant to post that last post on the Healthy glow blog.

Just so you know... I'm praying for all you guys. It sounds like a lot of us are going through some challenging times. I really wish I had some really great encouraging words for all of you, but I'm at a loss right now. Just know that I love you all and my prayers are with you. It's the challenging times that make us stronger and allow us to appreciate the happy and less challenging times.

Can't wait to see you all in Seattle!

prayers

Hey girls,

It sounds like there's quite a bit happening in everyone's lives these days. Steph, I will be praying for you guys and your financial situation. Jamie, I am so sorry to hear about your miscarriage. It breaks my heart to think of what you guys must be feeling right now. Please know you're in my prayers as you and Nick heal right now and prepare for the things God has for you in the future. I'm sure there are blessings just ahead of you. All you girls are in my prayers as I know there are lots of big things happening for everyone. We appreciate continued prayers for our move and everything that entails. Especially that we find a good church in Columbus and that God provides the perfect job situation for me with the kids. I have to make some supplemental income but that's easier said than done when you have kids. (You lose all your income in child care unless you have a really good full-time job. And I really don't want the kids in full-time day care.) So anyways, we are also praying for provision and friends and a sense of community and purpose in Columbus. I'm going to need a lot more support than what I had in Tulsa with Josh working 100 hours per week. On a good note though, we did find a house and we close on it April 25. I will post pics once we get moved in. I think it will work well for our family and it's in a good part of Columbus. So that's it for us. I love you girls and can't wait to see you in Seattle. Again, Jamie, I'm thinking and praying for you.

Missing you all....

Hey everyone! Thank you so much for the birthday wishes. I had a nice quiet birthday with my family. It has been a crazy month for us. We had found out that we were pregnant in the middle of March and then I miscarried about 7 days later. The one thing that I have decided through all this is that God is faithful and He knows what is going on. I know that I will not understand what happened fully, but I do know that I trust Him fully and that is all I need.

The miscarriage happened the day before spring break, so I had a lot of time to recover. We went to GA to see Nick's family on Wed and headed to Destin, FL on Thursday. (I also found out I had strep right before we left!) Two days on the beach, a two week spring break and two novels later I am feeling encouraged and healed.

Nick is also feeling encouraged. We were worried that we couldn't get pregnant, but now we know we can. :) I look forward to the day that I can blog and let you know that we have a little one on the way.

Steph...we will pray that God provides all you need according to His riches and glory. We are approaching a similar time in our life. Nick is going to be working part time so he can complete his internship hours. I am praying that He provides us with the funds to come to Seattle in June.

School is going well. Nothing exciting to report there. I really have missed you guys this past month. Thank you for all the birthday wishes and update. Jen, Nobu is so cute! Thank you for sharing your new addition to your family. :) I am praying for you all! Love you.

Prayers...

Hey ladies!
I know I haven't posted in a while, but things here are good! We're both happy and healthy and doing well! Shawn's about to end his first semester back at OSU and I am working my tail off at CTSA. We had a great Easter with his family in Chickasha, OK. I hope you all did too!!! Jamie, I hope you got my text, but if not, I was thinking of you on your birthday! Love you!

God has been so faithful to provide for us during this time that we should have been nearly broke. We have hit a snag financially (Shawn won't be receiving unemployment anymore) and we're not sure where some of our income will be coming from. He's looking, of course, to start working part time, but I don't want his schoolwork to suffer for it. There is a scholarship that we've applied for, but it is taking a long time to be approved...So that is one of our major prayers - that it's approved and soon! That would take care of the rest of his school and pay some of his travel expenses. Anyway, I know I have some great prayers in my circle of friends, so I thought I would let ya'll know what we're dealing with.

Like I said, though, other than that, things are great! I hope everyone is doing well and I can't wait to see you all in June!!! :-)
Love you!

Counting the days already...

Approximately 57 days till Seattle Reunion! Just thought I'd give you all the update.
Oh, and happy birthday to Jamie! Hope you had a wonderful day yesterday.
Happy Easter to all!

Nobu is home!

Yes, it's official, we are puppy parents! And I must say, he's the cutest little guy you've ever met, i just love him to death! Will post pictures this weekend!!

Baby Liam

Adam and I spent this last weekend in Denver, where we waited and waited and waited for our new nephew, Liam, to be born. I was in the room when he finally came at 3:00 a.m. Sunday morning. The nurse didn’t even have time to put her gloves on before he came shooting out. The doctor finally made it in the room a couple minutes after and said, “What has happened in here?”
And we were like, “We just had a baby.”

But thankfully, Liam and his mom are both fine. It was amazing and beautiful and scary and I’m so glad I was there to witness it.
Adam was with our other nephew at the hotel but he came over to see the baby after he was all cleaned up. It was quite an emotional time for everyone, especially those of us with female hormones.

We came back to Seattle Monday morning and I went straight to work, where I zombie-walked through my day. I’m feeling a little more rested today but still sort of out of whack.

But I’m so happy it’s April. April is such a happy month. Birthdays and Easter and flowers blooming and new babies.

Love you girls!

So, we moved this past weekend from Tulsa, OK to Ohio. It was a horrible, stressful, exhausting week and it just keeps going that way. We closed on our house on march 23rd and immediately started the two-day trek with our children and my mom to help to Ohio. The kids actually did pretty well on the road. Seth had a pretty hard time with the week of the move because everything was changing and it kinda freaked him out. he got really clingy and upset and would just keep asking us if we were going "bye, bye." His little world got flipped upside down and he's just been feeling a bit insecure during this transition time. But everything has gone pretty smoothly. other than when Seth locked Lilah in the mini-van in Greenup, IL (wherever that is!) We were stopped at a Dairy Queen and had gone to the car to change diapers. I got Lilah all situated in the front seat for mom to change her and Seth locked the door without me realizing it. When we were trying to switch places for mom to change Lilah and me to get Seth, the door bumped closed and Lilah got locked in with my diaper bag and keys on the floor of the van for the diaper change. It was 80 degrees outside and the car was probably 100 degrees because it had been in the hot sun for about an hour already. We called 911 and got Lilah out. But she had been in there about 15 minutes and was drenched in sweat and dehydrated and was struggling to breath. It was a disaster and we spent the next hour back in dairy Queen cooling her down. We eventually got home and are now starting the house-hunting process and are staying very busy with that. That's about it for us. I'm going to bed now because it is 2 am and I'm exhausted! Love you girls! (Oh, and I'm sorry Steph, I'm not coming back to Tulsa... but I wish I could because I'm missing it.) Also, sorry I missed you in Ohio Kim. And I'm sorry I never called you back while I was driving. It ended up being really busy and I want to try to call you when I can actually talk. =)

Out there...somewhere

I spent most of last week in Ohio, where my mom was supposed to have surgery. Instead, her surgery was postponed indefinitely because of abnormal EKG results. At first, her doctor thought she might have had a minor heart attack, but the cardiologist she saw didn’t think so. But they are doing further tests in a couple weeks to find out just what is going on.

So instead of spending the week in a hospital, I spent it with my mom and sister and family, just hanging out and doing normal Ohio-type things. I flew back on Saturday so I could get back to work.

Adam was in Vegas for his cousin’s wedding, but he changed his ticket to fly home on Saturday as well. It was all kind of last minute and a little bit stressful (especially my delayed flights on Saturday), but it all worked out in the end and we spent a lovely Sunday afternoon just wandering around like tourists.

Well, I guess that's it for now. Hope all is well with you girls. I love you lots!

are you girls still out there?

So this weekend was spent puppy-proofing the house. I cleared the coffee tables and end tables low enough to be whacked by a wagging tail. I picked up numberous decorations or little odds and ends from the floor and put them in their place (spring cleaning too!), and we purchased a baby gate for the downstairs hallway. We also purchased anything and everything else you could imagine to get ready for Nobu's homecoming. Check out my blog for the most recent photo!
Does anyone else have boxelder bugs covering one side of their home? Ugh, i just gag when i see one of those buggers get inside. I can't stand them, and I especially can't stand killing them because they 'crunch' when killed. ugh, I'm loosing my appetite just thinking about it!
Oh, Chris is up to 30 pounds lost and I've topped off at 15 pounds lost. Girls, this is an unbelievably easy lifestyle!
much love ladies!!

What's that smell?

WORMS! I can't remember for the life of me who said that one day in college, but I think it was Steph? Well, anyway, friday was our first spring rain and it smelled like worms. not really... i don't think i could really smell worms, but someone once said it smelled like worms outside but it was really just rain. i love you girls!

Procrastination

So it’s sunny and warm outside and I really don’t feel like working. So I think I’ll blog instead.

We went to San Francisco over the weekend for a little last-minute getaway (pictures are on Flickr.) Adam flew down on Thursday for a little business trip, and I went on Friday to meet him. It was so warm there, I actually got a little sunburned. We also got to see the Chinese New Year parade, which was vibrant and wonderful. Lots of little kids dressed like pigs.

We were also able to meet up with his stepbrother for a couple dinners, which was fun. He’s working at Google, which we were hoping to get a little tour of. But maybe next time.

If we moved to another city any time in the future, it would definitely be San Francisco. The climate is perfect (read: less rain) and we could live across from the park where they filmed that Full House scene. Well, if we had an extra million dollars lying around. But it must be under the bed, if we do, because I sure can’t find it anywhere.

Other than that, we’re just chugging along as usual. We’ve still been doing some house hunting, but just casually. Nothing has screamed, “buy me!” at us yet.

Seattle has this 25 for 25 thing going on right now where you can eat for $25 at 25 local gourmet restaurants. So I think we’re going to try out one of them tonight. I need to scope out some more good ones for us in June, too, so I will consider this a research outing.

I could also still use some input on the mix cd I’m cooking up. Anyone? Anyone?

Hope all is well with you all – love ya!

Seattle here I come!

Just wanted to let you all know that its official, I'm going to Seattle in June and so is Aaron. I got some really good deals on Expedia. $288 roundtrip each. I fly in on Wednesday night (late) and Aaron flies in on Saturday night. Unfortunately he wasn't able to get the Saturday off cause one of his co-workers had already asked off. But he will be in on Saturday night till Monday. We are also traveling down to Portland afterwards to visit one of my friends from Spain.

Anyway... can't wait to see you all there! Approximately 3.5 months, 15 weeks, or 108 days!

sold!

Hey girls! How are you all doing? Things are good here, stressful, but good. We sold our house and will be moving around March 23rd. So now we're doing some final repairs on the house and are starting the daunting task of packing. I hate packing, with a passion. I enjoy unpacking because I think it's fun to be surprised by the contents of each box when you open it. And I also very much enjoy the opportunity to reorganize and clean everything in my house. I am also looking forward to redecorating a new house. But I am dreading having to actually do the work of painting and other home fixer-upper projects. I prefer someone else to do the work. I just like the creative part of it. So we've been house-hunting a little bit online. It's kind of overwhelming. Also, we've been figuring out our budget for residency and I really am going to need to get a job to help make some supplemental income. Like at least part time. The trick is finding something that pays ok and that works with the kids. Because if I have to put them in regular day care, I pretty much lose my income in child care expenses. So I'm pretty stressed about that. I would appreciate prayers while we look for a house, find a new church and friends, and find a job. Miss you all bunches!

2 years = Electronics

Hello all!

Things here have been slow and steady. We have finally had 2 weekends in a row without too much snow. We had a few inches last night, but they were melted by 4pm today. Yeah for that. We decided to do something a little different this year for Valentine's day...I think this is going to be our new "tradition."

We official have been together for 2 years, and that is the Electronic Gift right? We bought ourselves a surround sound system. Which has revitalized our movie watching experiences. We'll need to have you all over soon. ;)

We also finished our taxes today. I do have to say sometimes I view the government like my personal savings account. We had another year where are getting a nice refund and not having to pay. I have realized that God is faithful to those who tithe. :) Those "donations to charity" do help on the tax refund side. :)

School is going well. I'm thinking about applying for the Technology position for next year. We'll see about that.

My tips for the getting healthy club. We did a 21-day fast at church and Nick and I decided to do a "Daniel Fast" for lunch. That is where I ate raw fruit, vegetables and nuts for lunch. At night we ate Zone. (It's similar to South Beach). As I added in Tae-Bo workouts I found that the fat deposits began to shrink. Now sticking with it all...that's the hard part.

I love reading your posts! (Even the 'boring' ones. :)) I'm getting excited about seeing you girls in Seattle. Nick and I are planning on being there!!

Not So Wonderland

In spite of Phil's (the groundhog) prediction that spring would come early this year, winter seams to have finally arrived for the East Coast. I must say, Liz got out just in time. In our first major winter storm of the year, mother nature decided to be very cruel.

Highlights of the "Love Storm":

• We had approximately 36 hours of snow, sleet and freezing rain.
• What would have been 20" of snow has been compacted into 6-8" of snow and ice.
• It took Aaron more than an hour to shovel our 10' driveway (it usually takes him about 10-15 minutes)
• The nicely paved roads that we are used to, have been mutilated into ice roads. It's much like driving on stone/dirt road with multiple pot holes, except that they are much slipperier and dangerous. In some places its like driving an amusement park car on a track cause the tire have worn through the ice to the road, but a 6" thick slab of ice remains between your tires. I found this quite humorous.
• Accidents on the interstate highway 78 caused a 50 mile gridlock that for some lasted for more than 40 hours. Can you imagine being stuck on a highway, in your car for 40 hours. The National Guard took food and supplies to those left stranded.
• Highways are still closed in that area due to horrible road conditions that could not be remedied sooner.

It was a terrible storm and the aftermath is even worse cause of all the ice. I'll be glad when it warms up. Oh did I mention it hasn't been above 20 since like 2 weeks ago. It's very cold!

Anyone else ready for spring?!