10 weeks along!

I am currently 10 weeks into the pregnancy and things are going well. Everyone has been asking all the typical questions, how are you feeling, are you craving anything yet, when are you going to start showing, do you want a boy or girl and so on, so I thought I would fill you in on all of that! So, first- thankfully I have not had much sickness at all. There has only been a handful of times where I have physically gotten sick! Feeling nauseated on the other hand is a different story! But I really can't complain because I have heard some stories of people getting sick three and four times a day! Just the thought of some things can make me gag! My worst pregnancy symptom  has been the tiredness, I am just wiped out all the time! By the time I get home from work all I can think about it eating dinner and then laying on the couch! Nick has been more than gracious to me these past few weeks by doing basically all of the house work, laundry and cooking. I feel bad not doing much but am so thankful that he has stepped in to let me rest! I am definitely ready to regain some of my energy!

Second- I am not craving anything yet! I'm sure I will though! The food that I am missing the most is my daily turkey sandwich! Since you can't eat lunch meat while being pregnant I am having to get creative with packing my lunches for work! My go to and love is a turkey sandwich, so I am really missing that! But its okay because I know the day will return when I can have it again! I am also trying really hard not to drink soda and I have to admit there are times when I would really love to have one! The other day I went to Chickfilla for lunch and discovered they had a caffeine free diet Coke. I ordered it and goodness something has never tasted so good! Normally it would be gross but with not having soda in so long it was purely wonderful!

Third- at ten weeks our little nugget as Nick has called it is only the size of a prune! So it will probably be a while until there is any baby bump! I feel a little bigger but to you I will still look the same!

Fourth- Boy or Girl? Well we have no preference really! A healthy little baby is all I need! For some reason though I am thinking boy! But we will find out around the 20 week mark!

Nick and I went to the doctor at 8 weeks and got to see the baby and listen to the heart beat! What an incredible experience! Seeing the baby makes it so much more real since there is no baby bump yet. It was an emotional experience and one that I will never forget! We even saw the baby move while debuting itself on the screen!!

Here are some of the ultrasound photos and please forgive the bad quality but since we don't have a scanner I took a photo of it with my camera! Any way below is also a photo of my growing belly at 10 weeks along!

Oh Baby!

Oh baby oh baby! Nick and I are having a baby! We couldn't be more excited about our starting a family! If you know me at all you know how intrigued I am by pregnancy! I think it is the most incredible thing and I always love seeing baby bumps! I always knew this day would come and I have always looked forward to being pregnant and being a mom, however this news came with a lot of surprise, tears and laughter for us on a casual afternoon! We were definitely surprised to learn our family was expanding but are beyond excited! We found out when I was about 6 weeks along! Our due date is April 24! We are so excited to share this journey with you and hope you will be too! Here are some photos from the day we found out we were expecting!

We wanted to capture the moment, this is right after we saw the test said "pregnant". I had just gotten home from work and hadn't even changed out of my scrubs yet! I told Nick I wanted to change before we took any photos but he insisted I not, so that we could remember just what it was like that afternoon! 

I still can't believe it sometimes! Seeing that pop up was such a crazy feeling! 

This is to compare what I will look like at the end! Here I am 6 weeks along!

I look forward to updating a lot more often! 

Catching up!

Wow! So much has happened since I last blogged! It has been almost a month since my last post, so allow me to catch you up on our lives!

I believe I left off right as we were about to leave for summer camp. Going to camp as an adult leader was a new experience for me but an incredible one nonetheless. We have such a great group of students here who are eager to learn and grow in their walk with the Lord! It was a blessing to be able to connect with many of them on our time away at camp! That is one of the greatest things about going away, you are able to really get to know each other and form new bonds!

I have been substitute teaching for a preschool about 40 minutes away from home and that has been going really well! Right before we left for camp one of our church members came across a Christian preschool that was hiring and knowing I was looking for full time employment, she told me about it! At first I totally disregarded it because I was already working with this other school, but after talking about it with Nick I decided that it wouldn't hurt to just send in my resume! I also prayed about my decision to send in my resume and felt pretty confident that it was the right thing to do! I knew that it this position was not for me that the Lord would close the door. Well while we were away at camp I checked my email and saw that the director had emailed me in regards to setting up an interview! So a few days after getting home from camp I interviewed with them and just fell in love with the whole establishment! The whole reason this facility exists is amazing to me. The owners are parents who had been searching for quality, Christian care for their children and just never found anything that met their standards, so with a determination to have that, the center was born! It has not even been open for a year yet and they are booming! Which is a great thing! They really believe in having Christ be the center of everything they associate with, and that is great! So, needless to say after finding out all of their background and getting to tour the center I knew that if I did not get hired there, I had found a place to send our future children! My interview went well that day and a few days later I was offered the job!! So, I am now the Lead teacher for the 3 1/2 year olds! I am so thankful to be getting the chance to work for such a great facility! I am also so thankful for our great church members who are always looking out for us! I will start working at the end of July!

Nick had his 24th birthday on June 24! It was a great day for us to celebrate with our students! We had about 30 people jammed into our apartment. We grilled out and just enjoyed each other's company! Nick has been pretty busy with all of our summer events at the church! Each Wednesday we are having a theme night, so far we have had a game show night and a wet and messy night! This coming week will be a murder mystery night! These themed nights have been a blast, but there is a lot more work involved than you would ever think! When you are a youth you never appreciate just how much behind the scene work happens.

Other than that we are continuing to decorate our apartment and stock our garage! Nick has been having a blast getting some new tools and having some building projects to do! Nick's parents will be coming to visit at the end of July and we are so excited!! They will be our first visitors! And now I will beg all of you to also come and visit :) Just think about it, that's all I'm saying!

We miss you all! Have a great week!

Here is Nick hosting our Game Show night! It was a lot of fun! And he totally got into the part! Haha

Nick blowing out his candles!

Getting acquainted

Hello! I hope everyone is doing well! Nick and I have been keeping busy and doing well! This past Tuesday I started my new job! I am working at a christian preschool that is about 40 minutes away. I am working as a substitute for the summer, which is perfect because we have a jammed packed summer full of camps and weddings! I am hoping that in the fall I will get hired on full time! This job opportunity came at the most perfect time as I was having experiencing a bit of home sickness and just missing everyone back home. This mostly came with me not having much to do while Nick was away at work. But the Lord knew just what I needed and what was on my heart with giving me this job! I am so grateful for that! So other than starting a new job, we have been painting our apartment and making it into our home. Nick is playing on 2 softball teams so we have been especially busy with that!

Wednesday was the last day of school for our students here and they are all super excited to be on summer break! We are thoroughly enjoying getting to know each of them and their many entertaining qualities! Next week our church is hosting a week long event called "Mission Siloam" where we will take part in many activities to give back and show the love of Christ to our community. Some of the week long events include a free clothing give away and back yard Bible clubs. Nick and I are hosting a back yard Bible club at our house! This will take place Monday through Friday evenings and will have a vacation Bible school kind of feel, with games, crafts, snacks and a Bible story! Children from the surrounding neighborhoods will be invited to attend! There are several host homes that are located around town! Please pray that things will go well with that as there are many hearts that need reaching!!

I hope you have a wonderful week! Until next time :) Good bye!

New Chapter

I am writing you from "The Natural State"...from my new home in Arkansas! The last week has been a whirlwind of emotions and activities, of hellos and goodbyes. Last time I wrote I was finishing up finals at LU, all of which went really well! On Thursday I picked Nick up from the airport! It was so great to be with him again, knowing we didn't have to say goodbye! Thursday night Nick's parents, Kelsey and John and Tony and Bev all came into town! With everyone together you know its going to be a fun time! I am so thankful for all of them venturing down to Lynchburg for the graduation festivities!

Saturday was the big graduation day, it was such a bittersweet day. Knowing that I have completed my college career is such an exciting thing, but in the back of my mind I knew it was my last day for a while being with my friends and family. It was an absolutely wonderful day surrounded with my loving family and friends! And I must add that I am so proud of my father in law Darrell for completing his masters degree!!! I love that he was able to participate in graduation too, because he certainly deserves some recognition for all of his hard work!

Saturday afternoon I had to say goodbye to my parents, and this was a really difficult thing. I tried to be strong for my mom's sake, but anyone who knows me, knows that I am a crier. I think I held it together pretty well, but I have to admit after they left I did have a good cry. I have such great parents who would give the world to me and I am really going to miss living so close to them.

Saturday night was such a blast! Me and Nick, Nick Calcei and Sarah, Angela, Tiffany, Sam Kim and Corey all spent some time together playing a game called "murder" and eating pizza! It was such a fun time! I love my friends so much! It was a great way to say "see you later". We are avoiding saying goodbye haha!

Sunday morning Nick and I left Lynchburg, and I must say this was much harder than I had anticipated. Lynchburg will always be home to me. This is where Nick and I first lived as newlyweds, where we went to college, where we worked and made so many friends and great memories. Lynchburg will always hold a special place in my heart!

It took 2 full days of driving to make it to our new home! I will post a few photos from the drive, but it was really a rather uneventful drive! I am so excited to finally be here and with Nick! We have just closed a huge chapter in our lives, and now we begin then next. I can't wait to share the journey with you!

Here are a few photos from the last couple of days!

So glad my parents were able to come and spend this special day with us!

Sarah, Me, Tiffany and Casey! We were so excited to be graduating!

I love these girls! So glad for all of us to be together again!

Coming into Arkansas from Tennessee!

While Nick was coming to Virginia, some of our youth watched our cat! Once we got home on Monday this banner was hanging in our living room along with about 20 balloons! It was a great surprise!

The home stretch

Hello all! I write this post with much anticipation of the coming week! Nick and I have been apart for just over a month now, and though it has been what seems like forever, we are definitely in the home stretch! Nick will be flying into Lynchburg on Thursday morning, which I can hardly wait for!  Later that evening family will be arriving and we are looking forward to some good quality time together! This week also begins finals at Liberty. I will be really busy in the coming days trying to finish strong, so any encouragement will be greatly appreciated! This week of my life is literally life changing... all in a few days I will be graduating from college and moving half way across the country! It is an exciting time for Nick and I, I will post more after we make our journey down to Arkansas! 

We are Moving!

As you may or may not know, Nick and I are moving! Nick has accepted a position in Siloam Springs, Arkansas as an Associate Student Pastor! He started on March 2 and is doing great! Please pray for us as we begin our ministry and also as we are apart for the next few weeks. I am staying in Lynchburg, VA to finish my college courses and will be joining Nick after graduation in May! 

Our new address is 

1010 Mockingbird Lane Apt. C

Siloam Springs, AR 72761

More updates to come!