Husband Brag

I know that it's all I've been talking about..it's really one of the only things I can talk about at this point though. Blogland is super controversial, so I've taken to writing in my journal more. =] More people know about this blog than I was aware...and I don't want to be creating even more issues there are plenty already. SO Nate is looking AMAZING! Losing a steady 3 lbs a week, I'm so proud of him! Last night we went over to our friends [Otto and Michelle] house, and the way this shirt fit him really just blew me away...I mean I notice he is losing weight but sometimes it's a LOT more visible than others. This was one of those times, I told him I'd find a pic of him in this shirt before and then he could see why I was so overcome with excitement for him. I love him no matter his size, weight, hair cut, clothes...but the fact that he set out to do something and has followed through with the dedication to accomplish it, makes me SUPER proud of him. One of those things I always knew was in him, and it finally came out! GO NATE!!! =]
Dec 08' Aug 09'

Thanks for the prayers everyone, I think things might actually be coming together for us, FINALLY! And Nate has been chatting with his dad and getting a lot of clarity about things. God is truly working things together for good and in his perfect timing. =]

Blessings to you,

The Blessing of Friends

"Friends are the family you choose"

We were SO blessed to have some friends we had in Texas come and visit us! Robert and Tara. Tara worked with Nate at the OG and Robert was able to come to Nate's graduation from CFNI! We've kept in pretty good touch with them, but hanging out again made us miss them SO much.
It was a LONG night filled with laughter!

Nate [looking a little like Peter Pan] and Robert laughing at my comment about Nate looking like Peter Pan...lol

Tara and Me

All of us

Robert and Tara

Also, God has totally brought a couple from church into our lives...Michelle and Otto.

She is in choir with me and Otto plays the guitar in the band. They are as loud as us, [which is hard to imagine] theylove God, and want to be parents just as much as we do, and have those same struggles with it just not happening. It's rare to find couples married for a few years without kids, so it's nice to have that bond.

God is so good and is filling in those empty places. Sending us people that know our hearts, are on our same page, that we can learn from and help out as well. It makes getting through the rough spots a little easier with people backing you up.

Also, just wanted to let those of you who prayed for Nate last week about his meeting with the Pastor. It really helped! God really revealed some stuff to us, and it was different than what I expected. Sometimes we need rebuke but sometimes we need to be validated, encouraged and backed up! I'm thankful that God knows when we need what and provides for us exactly what we need. We are definately finding that peace and I'm SO grateful for it.

Blessings to you, your friendships, and your families,

The Climb

The Climb

I can almost see it
That dream I am dreaming
But there's a voice inside my head saying
"You'll never reach it"

Every step I'm taking
Every move I make feels
Lost with no direction
My faith is shaking

But I gotta keep trying
Gotta keep my head held high

There's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be a uphill battle
Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose

Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side
It's the climb

The struggles I'm facing
The chances I'm taking
Sometimes might knock me down
But no, I'm not breaking

I may not know it
But these are the moments that
I'm gonna remember most, yeah
Just gotta keep going

And I, I got to be strong
Just keep pushing on

'Cause there's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be a uphill battle
Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose

Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side
It's the climb, yeah!

There's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be an uphill battle
Somebody's gonna have to lose

Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side
It's the climb, yeah!

Keep on moving, keep climbing
Keep the faith, baby
It's all about, it's all about the climb
Keep the faith, keep your faith, whoa

So nothing super new to report. Nate finally put my shelves up on the walls so our house is looking more homey. YAY for hubby's!

We have really picked up our exercise schedule, and I'm just SO proud of us! I've been doing 6 miles 4-5 times a week. Nate has been doing at least 9 miles 5 times a week. We also have been going to bed and getting up earlier. Who would've thought that me miss night owl would be going to sleep at 10pm and 11pm! So our progress...Nate lost 4 inches and 2 lbs last week I maintained my weight and lost 3 inches from my waist 1/2 inch from my bust and gained a lb in my hips..which is actually good, b/c as I gained weight my butt vanished and now it's getting all round and cute again. =] My weight is redistributing and I feel fabulous.

This week we are focusing on portion control and I started this morning getting up with him in the morning to exercise as well. Add in there all the push-ups, crunches, reverse crunches, bench dips, hip rolls and so on our lives are pretty much eat, sleep, exercise. Oh! but we decided that if we could be disciplined in our physical fitness we also wanted to get disciplined spiritually. So we have a plan to get through the Bible together in 2 months. Since we are eating smaller portions our time for eating has decreased and we are reading roughly 20 chapters a day together. That at least is the goal. I'm excited yesterday was our first day....and it was really exciting to re-read through things, see new things we hadn't seen before and most of all just dedicating some of our quality time to God just felt amazing. We gotta keep praising even when things are rough. So we are feeling a ton better, to say the least.

This week is pretty busy, we have a few visitors from Texas coming to see us. Which is so fun! We haven't seen them since we've moved so I'm sure we will be roaring with laughter and there will be lots of chatting and hugging and what not, I can't wait!

Nate also has a meeting with one of our pastors this week, if you could pray for them. That Nate's heart would be understood and receptive to the counsel he receives. And that we as a couple would make the right decisions reguarding certain relationships in our lives.

So I guess that's it for now. Oh one more thing, lol one of my goals for this year was to read a book every month. Although I did it the first month I had a hard time for a little while, well now I found this series that I LOVE and have read through each book in like 2 days. They are based off of quilts, which sounds boring but it's all the stories about the people, their struggles, their victories...well it's just amazing so I wanted to let everyone know that I'm getting somewhere with my resolutions. Maybe I should have a resolutions update soon. =] How about yours?

Blessings to you as you finish your week.

1974

So trying to distract myself from all the crap that is going on right now and found this...it's too funny.

This apparently is what I would look like in 1974:

lol too funny! Hope you needed a laugh as much as I did today...I'll most more later, just wanted to touch base.

muah

The Gift of Friendship

So I started out writing an angry venting blog about all the emotional crap we have been dealing with lately. How much my heart breaks for my husband...and all that jazz and although Nate told me "this is your blog, write how you feel, don't worry about other people." I just can't help thinking it wouldn't be one of my wisest decisions. So I decided to blog about friends that make us happy!
When we first moved here, we lived with Nate's best friend and his wife. Let's just say things did not go well AT all. Moving to another state and not having your own space and living with people you don't know well...let's just say we parted on non speaking terms. We didn't talk for about a year.
Then Nate and Ryan had a lunch chatted about things, realized where all the emotion came from and their relationship was off to recovery. However the wives, being happy for the husbands weren't quite sure how it would all work out.
A few months later, I wrote an email apologizing and explaining a little...letting her know I didn't expect anything from her I just wanted to apologize for the hurt I had caused and I hoped one day we could be friends but even if not, I would love to at least get along so our husbands could get together more often. Some time later, I did a reply from her. Accepting my apology and apologizing herself. She even said she was sorry it took so long...I told her, I really meant it when I said take your time. In the letter I even said a month, a week a year whatever you need...everyone works through things at different speeds it's selfish to expect them to get through things as fast as you might. Later on, you will appreciate the time you gave them if you need it yourself! =]
So anyway as a start to the year they invited us over...it went well but was still awkward and we were kind of thinking that it might just not ever happen. Well after some texting and facebook wall writing out of the blue a couple of weeks ago they texted us and asked what we were up to. So a spur of the moment trip to the Brooks house happen. We had dinner, played euchre at a starbucks, walked around a small pond/lake thing, went back to their house and played Wii, but mostly we just talked & talked & talked. Things weren't awkward...everyone was relaxed it was amazing. So then we chatted a bit after that, and just went over again this last Thursday as well. So we are trying to get together more often, it's a lot more relaxed and we've talked through some of the things...apologized some more, but mostly we are just thankful to have that relationship restored, two years later but it is restored. =] So anyway they have a beautiful daughter, who is of course our adopted niece and we just adore her and she loves us as well. We are quickly bonding. Here are some pictures!

Uncle Nate tickling!

Gracie was sharing her dolls with me.

Getting her hooked on Dasani...lol

Sharing a nectarine with Auntie Sarah

Beautiful Gracie

Too cute

Us girls.

Next time I'll take some better pictures of Ryan and Katie. =]
What a blessing friendship is. God is so good and faithful, I'm truly grateful that He works all things together for good.

Blessings to you in your friendships,

The Move, An Anniversary, and Progress

So we moved to Lakeland and are now slowly unpacking and settling in. This is a picture of us the day before the actual move our on our porch.

After loading and unloading the truck and a weekend to rest a bit Tuesday we went to Disney to celebrate our anniversary. [it's so nice getting in for free!]
Here is us at the beginning of the day with our anniversary pins.

Here we are at the petting zoo at Animal Kingdom...that there is Joe.

Then the next day we had a chill day...then cut the small cake we had like we do every year and this year we smeared it on our faces like the day we got married. =] It was fun, and the cake was yummy!

It's crazy that 3 years has gone by. I look at all that we have gone through and am just so happy that we have had each other through it all. Especially now as we are embarking on a new big adventure, I know there is no one else I would want next to me in this journey called life.
I've been hearing a quote lately that I like a lot, "Love isn't finding someone you can live with, it's finding someone you can't live without." I just love that.

So although my soundtrack of love was not finished I thought I would leave you with a couple more important songs as a wrap up, and in honor of our anniversary.

This song was our first dance as husband and wife. =]

Come Away With Me
by: Norah Jones

Come away with me in the night
Come away with me
And I will write you a song

Come away with me on a bus
Come away where they can't tempt us
With their lies

And I want to walk with you
On a cloudy day
In fields where the yellow grass grows knee-high
So won't you try to come?

Come away with me and we'll kiss
On a mountaintop
Come away with me
And I'll never stop loving you

And I want to wake up with the rain
Falling on a tin roof
While I'm safe there in your arms
So all I ask is for you
To come away with me in the night
Come away with me

This second song, is probably one of my favorites. It was Nathan's ringtone on my phone during our whole engagement, and one of my favorite songs to slow dance and sing to him in the living room by candle light. ::happy sigh::

Love of My Life
by: Brian Mcknight

First, first, time I looked into your eyes
I saw heaven, oh, heaven in your eyes
Everything I did before you, wasn't worth my while
It should've been you all the time
I do anything, and everything to please you
You know how much I need you
You're always, always, on my mind

Chorus:
You're more than wonderful
More than amazing
Irreplaceable, love, love, in my life
You're so incredible, here in these arms tonight
The irreplaceable, love, love, of my life

Always, seems like reality
Forever, don't seem so far away
All I wanna do, all I wanna feel, all I wanna be is close to you
Everyday, in my lucky day
All I wanna do, is love you
I place no one above you
I'll tell you why

Chorus

Baby you now, you know you're my one (and only)
(all I wanna do is be together)
Sugar you know, I'll never leave you lonely
In your eyes, in your eyes I see forever
Ahhhh, ohhhh, ohhhh, ohhhh
Ahhhh, ohhhhhh, ohhhh,

The last one is a more fun song, and we kind of call it our theme song...haha. It's by one of our favorite bands, that we both loved before we even met each other and that's Relient K.

Must of Done Something Right
by Relient K

We should get jerseys cause we make a great team
But yours would look better than mine, cause you're outta my league
And I know that it's so cliche to tell you that everyday
I spend with you is the new best day of my life
Everyone watching us just turns away with disgust
It's Jealously, they can see that we've got it going on

And I'm racking my brain for a new improved way
To let you know your more to me than what I know how to say
You're OK with the way this is going to be
This is going to be the best thing we've ever seen

[Chorus]
If anyone can make me a better person you could
All I gotta say is I musta done something good
I came along one day and you rearranged my life
All I gotta say is I musta done something right
I musta done something right

Maybe I'm just lucky cause it's hard to believe
Believe that somebody like you'd end up with someone like me
And I know that it's so cliche to talk about you this way
But I'll push all my inhibitions aside
It's so very obvious to everyone watching us
That we have got something real good going on

And I'm racking my brain for a new improved way
To let you know your more to me than what I know how to say
You're OK with the way this is going to be
This is going to be the best thing we've ever seen

If anyone can make me a better person you could
All I gotta say is I musta done something good
I came along one day and you rearranged my life
All I gotta say is I musta done something right
I musta done something right

So that's all for now folks. Now just trying to get things organized and settled in, preparing for what's to come. Oh and as a quick brag to everyone about my hubby, he has lost over 30lbs this year...has few pants that fit him and it feeling a lot healthier and looking mighty fine! I've lost about 15lbs [he's been doing more exercising than me] and yesterday I slid a pair of my shorts off without unbuttoning them, what a nice feeling to be fitting into clothes that I did when I got married. Nate has already been fitting into clothes he wore on our honeymoon and they are getting to big on him as well...it is a BIG accomplishment to be getting into shape! Our frig is filled with healthy foods, maybe I'll take a picture so you can see. =] haha Anyway wanted to throw that out there to brag. Here are some pictures so you can see the progress he has made.
Before, at Christmas time: After, half way through July:

Great Job Nate, I'm more proud of you than words!

Blessings to you all.