Open Palm

I saw this quote on Facebook today and it is simple and so true.  “Anxiety depends on the future and depression depends on the past.”  I’m trying to focus on being present in the current moment.  I want to appreciate each stage of this moment.  I am praying that I will be able to appreciate each day whether it’s related to work, relationships, or our soon to be expanding family.  In small group this week Tracie mentioned living life with an open palm.  Learning to trust in what is in your life in the current moment without holding on too tightly to what you have now or being distracted by reaching for something else in the future.  It is the natural cycle of life that things will come and go.  I need to recognize that I am not in control and appreciate all that I can about my life exactly as it is right now.  I will always have the instinct to plan ahead but I am currently praying for a contented and joyful spirit.  Here are a few verses I’ve been praying that relate to this exact sentiment and struggle. 

Matthew 6:25-26
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

Philippians 4:12-13
12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

1 Timothy 6:6-7
6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.

Goodbyes are Hard

I am continuing to realize that adult friendships are about cherishing the amount of time you have in the same place as people.  We have so many friendships that have profoundly impacted our lives.  Some we have been lucky enough to live within an hour of them for most or all of that time.  Others we are lucky enough to get for a season before they move to another state to move back closer to family or for an exciting job opportunity.  Thankfully with social media and cell phones you never really lose those people but you do lose the chance to see them regularly and share little everyday moments of life with them.  We found out a couple Sundays ago that one of the couples in our small group will be moving up north to Pennsylvania for his job.  This is one of the couples we started our current small group with and that we’ve grown very close to over the past year or so.  During worship in the 11 AM service I felt tears welling up and I felt that familiar pit in my stomach.  The selfish feeling that wants to keep people I love in close proximity to me for as long as possible.  The anxiety of what it means for our small group and us personally and how much we’ll miss them.  As I processed the news and after some time passed I also felt thankfulness for the time we have had with them and excitement for them and how God will use them in their new community. 

I am trying to dwell in the thankfulness and the excitement for their new adventures.  And remind myself that this means they get to make new friends who they’ll impact and influence as deeply as they have us.  It also means we’ll have space in our lives to invite in new people to share our lives with.  I will still cry big fat tears when they move and will miss seeing them in small group but I know with complete certainty that God will watch after them and that they’ll soar in their next chapter.  Goodbyes are hard but I’ll enjoy witnessing their story unfold from afar and cherish the times in the future however brief where we get to visit with one another!

Nerdy Onesies & Our Visit to Charlotte

Our friends are so awesome! Seriously sometimes you have moments when you realize how amazing it is to be around friends who really understand you and support you.  A couple weekends ago we took a long overdue drive to Charlotte to see Chad and Amanda’s new house, meet their puppy, and meet up with some other rad friends for dinner (Alex, Katherine, Josh, and Meghan).  This trip to Charlotte was a little different than usual since we normally go on a marathon of brewery tours and since I’m not drinking due to little nugget we changed up our plans a bit.  Friday night was low key we grabbed pizza and watched TV which nice after the drive.  They got us the coolest and nerdiest onesies from Etsy for little nugget.  Seriously look how awesome these are!

Saturday we explored the cute local downtown area of Fort Mill, SC which is the town they live in.  It has so much charm and a really excellent burger place.  I had a chicken and waffle sandwich with maple syrup, yummers!  Per my new norm I took a mid-afternoon nap since little nugget drains a lot of my energy and then we headed out to downtown Charlotte for dinner with friends.  Alex (Kyle’s best friend) and his wife Katherine live in Greensboro but were awesome and drove to meet us.  We don’t get to see them awesome but when we do it is always excellent.  They are so much fun to be around and seeing how happy they are as a couple makes our hearts so joyful.  We also got to see Josh and Meghan and their precious little boy.  We enjoyed a great dinner at Dish. Seriously try it if you are ever in Charlotte, so yummy and so reasonable.  It’s a southern diner style place and their vegetables are on point.  After dinner we went to an arcade bar and played video games and laughed!  Before we left Sunday we had brunch together and overall it was such a fun weekend.  I’m a total introvert but when you are around your true friends it is such a content feeling and recharge for the soul.

He or She – the wait is almost over!

You guys it is finally the week of our 20 week anatomy scan ultrasound!  We are so excited since it feels like we’ve been waiting forever to find out.  Yes, I’m super impatient and I’m working on it.  We go this Thursday at 3 PM for the ultrasound.  I’ve heard this ultrasound is the best one since the baby is so much more developed and yet still small enough to see almost everything in one view.  We’ll get to see all the organs and have everything measured to see how little nugget is coming along.  We’re going to post a baby hunch poll tomorrow to have our friends guess on fun things like gender, delivery date, eye color, etc.  We also have a fun gender reveal photo/video planned for social media on Thursday night.  So excited, now hurry up Thursday afternoon and get here!

Nursery Progress - September

I have been so fortunate to have had such a smooth pregnancy so far.  I’m not saying there aren’t plenty of symptoms I’d prefer not to have but I dodged the morning sickness bullet and for the most part I have been feeling really good and excited about little nugget.  Even with a smooth pregnancy with my personality there is plenty to be anxious about – eating the right things, exercising but not doing anything too strenuous, gaining weight but not too much, etc.  One of the things that has not been stressful and has been a ton of a fun is planning and starting on the nursery.  The baby will not care which color we picked for the walls or how well we curated the gallery wall above their changing table but each step we take in putting the nursery together makes me feel more and more ready to meet our little one.  With each step I get closer to being able to picture what life will be like with little nugget.  Now I can look at the curtains he or she will see and I know where the glider is going to go that I’ll nurse them in and where I’ll sing them lullabies and read them stories before bed. 

Here is what we have done so far:

• Painted the walls Silver Strand by Sherwin Williams
• Replaced the 1989 dated and dusty brass and funky lights ceiling fan
• Bought and Assembled the Dresser which we’ll also use as the changing station
• Kyle’s dad built and installed cloud shelves for book storage – I’m obsessed with the charm and whimsy of these shelves
• Started hanging up the gallery wall – still two items we need to buy to finish it
• Installed the curtain rods and hung the curtains
• Started the Install on the closet storage system – brackets in, next up we need to patch the holes from the previous closet system and put in the shelves, hanging brackets, baskets, etc.