A day that will live in infamy

While the rest of the world grew up remembering the events of Pearl Harbor, I always think of December 7th as my Dad's birthday.
My Dad is one of my best friends and I can't say enough good about him. That was not always the case. I found a journal when I was a young child. Apparently, I thought he was pretty mean and yelled to much.

That is actually one of the things I love about my Dad. I can look back on my childhood and think about the man he was and the man he is today. I am astonished at how much has changed and how much has not. He only gets better with time. I have seen him become so strong in the gospel. We have always been blessed to have a gospel centered home but I think the older you get the more you realize what is really important in life. He is a wonderful example of priorities and I am hope to be like him someday.

My Dad has always called me "Baby Girl". I love it. It's warm and sweet and oh so southern. He taught me how to garden, how to be funny, how to not be annoying, and how a husband should treat his wife. I am so grateful for a father who was part of my life. I think back to my early childhood when Dad was working outside our home. I remember being so excited for his days off. Cleaning out the garage, working in the garden, and going to Six Flags are just some of my favorite memories. I remember how hard he worked and how much he hated his job. I would stand on the porch with him before he left for work each day. He would rip a leaf off the holly bush, tear it apart, sigh, set his, jaw and then go to the job he hated. I still can't leave a holly bush alone when I see it. I always take a leaf and destroy it. My teenage years were filled with my father always sitting in the office at home happily asking me where I was going and who I would be with no matter what time of day it was. We would run errand a lot and I would spend my afternoons sitting in the chair in his office talking to him.

He has always told me I am beautiful and I never doubted it. When I was little, he would brush my hair while we watched TV in the evening. I used to think it was because he liked to brush my beautiful hair but now I realize my dad hates messy things and it probably looked a rat's nest.

I am grateful for all the sacrifices my Dad has made for me. I think I am more like him than I realize and I guess that is a good thing. I hope to be as wonderful a parent as my parents have been to me. I will get that chance here pretty soon. Only 5 more days till baby girl 2.0 is here! We were hoping she would come to be birthday twins with Dad but alas, I think she has her own ideas. I guess she will have to be a late birthday and early Christmas gift!

Happy Birthday to my wonderful Dad!

So close, but yet so far!

Here we are less than 5 1/2 weeks from baby's due date! It's weird. In some ways I am such an emotional person and in others I am one of the most practical people you will ever meet.

For instance, when Justin and I were dating I was so in love and happy. I also told him that I could leave him at any second if I thought he was no longer good for me. I told him I knew it would be hard but I know that I could love someone else just as easily. So romantic! I am sure he felt warm, fuzzy, and secure in our relationship. He asked me not to leave him. I said we will see.

I feel like I am so not maternal at all. I think other people's babies are ugly all the time. I worry my kid will be ugly too. If I told you your baby is cute know I mean it. If I haven't....well putting a bigger hair bow on her lumpy probably still wont do it for me. I hope she grows out of that how being hideous thing. I like to feel the baby kick but most of the time I think "Why is there an alien inside of me?" or "I wish you would move you feet out of my lung".

I have no concerns about being a mother. I nannied for years, I am the oldest, and I am just general overconfident in my abilities. I know I will be more tired than I have ever been in my life. I know that teaching is a constant job. I know that I have no idea what I am getting into but neither does anyone else when they become a mom so it's okay.

I am excited for this little girl to get here. I love her already so I guess that is maternal enough. I was not really enamored with the whole dating thing, or wedding thing, and to follow suit pregnancy is nothing much to talk about. I just feel guilty when I talk to people about "how I'm doing/feeling". My response is always "Great!". They feel like I am lying and always try and get stuff out of me "Were you sick?" I have to explain that pregnancy is definitely not the hardest or annoying thing I have even had to go through. I was never sick, I just want candy more than normal, my hips hurt sometimes, I sleep just fine, I still wake up on my stomach most days, and overall unless baby is moving I forget I am pregnant. Right now though because we are in the large and in charge phase I can't breath or bend over and pick stuff up. I can't carry heavy things. I just find it so very annoying! Also, I hate waddling. I feel like I should just put on some flippers and start quaking. Then again, nothing to REALLY complain about. Other pregnant people have real things to complain about.

I feel like doing senior paper and body attack training was way worse.

Watch, labor is going to be a beast! Now labor I am emotional about. I am so stinking scared but I also know I can do it. Again, overly confident.
Well, till she get here and I think she is the most beautiful thing that ever came I will continue to be practical.

Bomb-Bomb-Bomb

A couple weeks ago I tried to update this thing but my post was all about how monotonous our lives are. It was so boring I deleted. The universe decided to fix that problem by giving us a bomb threat on campus. 

No big, Justin and I are only responsible for about 84 people's safety. 

Just as we got into bed Sunday night we get a text message to stand by we might be going on lockdown and to not let rumors spread. With that vague yet disturbing information we threw on our clothes and proceeded to check on our boys as the message was sent the lockdown had begun. We had to get everyone into their rooms and keep them calm. Which is really hard to do when they say "What is going on?" You reply with "Everything is fine! We just need to make sure everyone is in their rooms to wait for more information" As somebody runs up the stairs and says "Why is there a SWAT team with huge guns all over campus? They told me to go back to my room" We still have no idea what is happening at this point. I say "The authorities are here and they are handling the situation. We just need to make sure everyone is safe in their room to give them further information."

That was a good answer, right? I was super worried and my mind immediately jumped to thoughts of VATech mass murder. It's weird but I felt so relieved that the police were already there and even more relieved when I found out it was a bomb threat. I thought, "I can handle this" 

Justin and I kept super cool the whole time. Some of the boys were prone to panic but we were able to keep everyone calm. A few of the boys thanked me for not being super dramatic or overreactive about it. They said it made them feel better. They all kept coming out of their rooms to be with us. It was like playing wack-a-mole. 

Eventually, we had to evacuate the building. That was the only part where I was a little stressed. People were trying to gather their things and I had a SWAT team behind me helping me push people along. I was super impressed with the SWAT team. They totally just let me do my job and helped me get everybody out. They came from both end of the hall so the people who did not get woken up by me were a little startled. It was about 1:30am at this point. Everybody ended up in the activities center. When I walked in the adrenaline I was not aware of had worn off and my braxton hicks settled in. My RA's made me get water and sit down and one of my boys got me a chair. They were all worried. I was like "If I go into labor because of this stupid bomb threat I will be so mad". I knew that they were fake though so I was not really worried. 

By 3:30am they had our building cleared and we were able to take everyone back and put them to bed. Our RAs and Justin and I had to stay up till lockdown was called off. The RAs told me I had to go to bed and they would handle it. I told them I was not going to go to bed  yet at all. I made it till 5am and Justin forced me to bed. Lockdown was called off at 5:30am. Just incase anyone wants to know last I heard they had a lead but no arrests have been made.

 

It was all very surreal. I have never taken something so seriously yet not been worried at all. Everyone did their job and there was a lot of peace in that for me. I hope the mothers of these boys know how much we worried about their children's safety in those few hours. Talk about stewardship. I feel like you have things you want to experience in life because of who you think it will make you. Like a bucket list. And then you have the things that you never plan for and really shape and build you. I am a huge worry wart but usually do well in a game time situation. I almost felt like I was watching myself and thinking "Wow, you are handling this really well". I am positive I could have handled it better in some ways but I am grateful that I was able to see the effort, love, and care that comes from the administration down through us to the students. I don't think they really understand. I would never have asked to be in that situation (especially being 7 1/2 months pregnant) but I am glad that it was me that got to experience it if someone had to. 

He's Back!

So, my baby brother came home on August 26th and it has been wonderful to have him back! Chris spent the last 2 year (and a few weeks) in the Cali Columbia mission. He speaks spanish and is so happy. It is good to have him home. He is getting use to the whole having a brother-in-law and a niece on the way. It is weird to think that so much has happened in just two years but time moves faster everyday. I am just trying to do as much as possible. Chris started got home on a Friday and started school at Southern Virginia University on Monday. Justin and Chris are both in basketball so they have been bonding. So far the school year is going well for both of them. Chris spends a lot of time in our room chatting with us about everything from girls to panic attacks (usually about girls). Chris and I have always been good friends. Now that all of my friends have deserted me for jobs, marriage, and that whole "moving on with life" thing I have been pretty lonely. I need to talk to someone about a subject 3 times before I have gotten it out of my system and Justin has been pretty tired of hearing me ramble on and on. Chris is a good outlet:) Having the whole family together is interesting. It feels so big and different but it is good. Times are a changing and everyone is growing up. I hope that I stay good friends with all of my siblings even when we are spread about everywhere but for now we can just enjoy things the way they are.

One Year

Justin and I celebrated our one year wedding anniversary on August 25th. I would love to say that we had the most romantic day of our lives but alas, we were married during orientation last year and that is still affecting us today. Many special people were unable to come to our wedding because it was such a crazy time but we knew that when we planned it so we just took their presents to calm our disappointment.

The busiest week for an HRA is right during our anniversary. Our day consisted of waking up super early, eating lunch in the cafeteria with other people, checking in new students, making them go to orientation, dealing with parents, running crazy errands, submitting work orders, and going to hang out at the school carnival so we could be cool HRAs that are involved. Justin had never been to the carnival, lovingly referred to as Knight Games so we did that for our date. He had fun riding a mechanical bull and racing non-pregnant people in a giant inflatable obstacle course. I had fun eating cotton candy, otter-pops and popcorn till I almost exploded. After that we went home and I passed out before 9 p.m. of exhaustion from the week and in preparation for the next day of craziness.

We did find a few minutes to exchange a little gift. Justin got me a beautiful necklace with our oh-so-significant rubies. I love it so much. I got him gummy worms and a homemade card. I obviously did not get the memo about gifts but he ate them so I guess he liked them. I was going to get him an ipad 2 but I don't have a million dollars and we are waiting for the ipad 3 anyway. (And a million dollars) Justin's Mom also sent us a super cool anniversary package with goodies and gifts. We also got a few cards which was unexpected but totally cool that people would remember our anniversary.

So pretty!

We have had a pretty great year. We learned and changed a lot. We both learned how to quickly resolve any issue we see approaching before it becomes an issue. I think when you see a potential rough spot headed your way and you do everything in your power to send it the opposite direction that is a big gesture of love. We have learned how to deal and help each other with our weaknesses. It is amazing how much verbalizing weaknesses that you have never put into words can help your spouse instantly understand and help you. Justin has gotten his fair share of crazy in this marriage and bless his heart he still likes me. Being together is so much fun and we are both dreading that work and school have picked back up because we see each other only for like 12 hours during the day. I know rough! I don't know how will handle Justin having a full-time job. Oh well, I guess that is why we have eternity:)

Here is video of Justin riding a bull

Loose Ends

Summer is almost over. Tragic I know, but for some reason I love the fall semester. It is so full of promise and change! I am not technically in school anymore but Justin has his last semester to finish up so that means I will still be doing a lot of homework:) Justin is always more motivated with someone directing his every move and I am just the girl to do it!

Justin dreads school but he has a pretty light semester ahead of him so he should be able to focus on the big task at hand, SENIOR PAPER(Dun Dun DUN!!!). While I enjoy the process of writing a paper I hated writing my senior paper. It was 25 pages on the agricultural benefits of mycorrhizae fungi. Yeah, you would hate it too. The thing is, I picked the topic and hated it. I would rather have someone else pick a topic for me. Give me a paper on the patriot act, censorship, how to repair America's image with Islam, I will put that sucker in the bag. I just don't really care about them so my opinion never plays a factor. I just write whichever position is easiest. Justin, on the other hand, crumbles under the immense boredom that is bound to ensue from a topic his cares nothing about. Let him pick his own and he will research it for weeks, write it early and revise it a million times and then have me revise it a million times again. I guess that is because he has better writing integrity than I do.

Justin also just started taking the basic tax preparers class at H&R Block. He goes twice a week to Staunton (30 mins away) to take the class in hopes that he will be able to work there this spring after graduation. He really likes it so far.

Next week is going to be the busiest week of our lives. We have orientation and check-in. This is where we make our non-existent pay check. I am pretty nervous actually. We have had the football players on our floor but we don't really have a connection with them yet. Saturday, they will all move to their fall assignments and our friendship needs to begin. How do I convince a bunch of 18-20 something young men that this grumpy pregnant lady is cool? We do have a pinata and brownies for them so hopefully that will help. I also start back at being a crossing guard on Monday so that will be super exciting. My tutoring does not start till after labor day and I am so grateful for that. I swear, I am so glad that I don't plan my life because it would not work out at all, Good thing the Lord is handling all that.

We have been prepping Main Hall for all the new students arrival Yay! Painting, moving stuff, fixing stuff. It has been so crazy! I am so grateful for the help of all the RAs and HRAs. I really like these people especially the ones that help me all the time. Justin and I would never get everything done. We have a lot of great people in our lives. This week we said some painful goodbyes. I am now the only person left that lived in Waggery my senior year. Those were the girls I liked best and was closest to. It is so weird how you think a place makes you happy when really it is just who you are with. I guess I will have to make some new (but not as good) friends. Although, I doubt any will compare since these are some of the best I have ever had. Thank goodness for facebook and stalking.

Cha-cha-cha-changes!

Well it is time for an update and this one is a big one. Justin and I found out a couple weeks ago that we are having a baby girl and we are tickled pink! Justin and I had dreams over and over again that we were going to have a girl and I felt a little mother's intuition that it was going to be a girl. I confessed that to no one because I did not want my first round of mother's intuition to be wrong. Prideful? Yes, but my motto has always been its better not to try than to try and fail. It is something I am working at removing from my life with the help of my wonderful husband who point out when I am being crazy ever so gently. 

For those of you who would like to know all the nitty gritty details of the last few months feel free to read on. If you would rather not, pregnancy is so great and stuff. (Feel free to move on)

I found out I was pregnant in April. I was pretty much in denial and thought I was just a little late and since I never keep track of anything like that whose to say I was even late? Apparently I was. Justin and I looked at the positive pregnancy test both feeling a little shell-shocked. Justin recovered much more quickly and was very excited. I, however, was not getting my hopes up until this was confirmed by someone other than a Wal-mart brand test. We called happy parents, excited for grand babies to come. I maintained the mentality that the doctor could still tell us it was a false positive. She, however, did not. Rather, I was welcomed with enthusiasm, given a gift bag full of information and free things, and sent home with a sonogram, having heard the heartbeat of a little stowaway who had been hiding for 8 weeks. Now I could get excited. It really was not my fault that I did not know due to the fact that my pregnancy symptoms have been relatively non-existent. My first trimester I had an intense craving for Now and Laters, Jolly Ranchers, fruit, and vegetables. In that order. Chocolate, not interested. Meat, not really. My most beloved bread, can I just have a cucumber? I was so lucky to not have any sickness. Sometimes I would feel queasy for like 5 minutes in the afternoon but after hearing others horror stories I really should not even mention that. Here is a list of fun pregnancy symptoms with that will hopefully make up for that. 

1. Horrible anxiety-every night I go to sleep worrying about something and how I will deal with the situation when the worst happens. Fun fun

2. Amplification of my already constant joint pain. Sleeping is fun. 

3.Dry hair and even more brittle nails (Is that even possible?)

4. Being ever more emotional than Justin even thought possible. He is a good man. 

5. That 2 weeks that I was more angry than I have ever been in my life and I did not know why. Not understanding the reason why only intensified my anger. Guaranteed to be Justin's favorite 2 weeks of our marriage hands down. 

I think she is so pretty already

Aside from those, it has all been very manageable. Probably because she is going to be a handful. This child is so active. As I type, she is holding a aerobic class in my womb. When we went to hear her heartbeat she was moving so much we could barely catch anything other than static. During our sonogram a couple weeks ago, the sonographer just kept saying "Wow. she is super active", "She is quite the little mover", "I can see why you had such a hard time hearing her heart beat last time, she is so so active". We are going to blame that trait on Justin and just plan on getting a hop-a-roo for her first few hours after she is born. Hey, at least she is healthy right?

Sister Moss told me "We do a lot to get them here" and that is so true. Talk about a lesson in selflessness, who else would I cook my lunch meat for to avoid getting a rare food born illness known as listeria other than my unborn child? It is an adventure but we are so excited to be parents. I hope, this little girl likes glitter, pink, nail polish, mud, baseball, and doing everything we can for Southern Virginia University. I think she might come out ready to lead the spring orientation groups and move some mattresses because that is the life she is being born into. We already love her so much.