I just couldn't wait!

So most people that read this blog already know our big news, but for those of you who don't... Dan and I are going to have a baby in November! We are so excited and just can't wait for the little baby to be here. I am almost at the three month mark and am feeling much more comfortable with telling the world our news. In a few short weeks I'm sure I won't be able to hide it anymore. For now it just looks like I ate a few too many donuts! So even though you can't really tell that there is much of a difference, I still wanted to post some pictures. The first one is of week five when we first found out and the second one is of week eleven. The second one if kind of blurry, but it's the best one we took. There will definitely be more pictures as things progress. Anyway, that's the baby news! In other news, Dan's parents are coming to visit this weekend and we are excited about having them come! I'm not sure what we're going to do yet, but it will be so much fun! Becuase Phillipsburg is always a happenin' place! So I'll update more later!

Courtney's Perfect Day

Everyone has their idea of a perfect day and here are the details of mine, in order of occurrence.

1. Sleeping in with the hubby.
There is nothing better than sleeping in on a Saturday morning, cuddling up to the person you love.

2. Shopping with the BF.
I spent the whole day shopping with my best friend. We ate lunch, laughed, shared stories, spent money, and basically had the best day of *retail therapy* I've ever had!

3. Coming home to a clean house.
Those of you who know me really well, know that I absolutely love a clean house. However, it doesn't get really clean very often. But on this particular Saturday, my wonderful husband decided to clean the entire house for me, complete with lit candles and all! Now that's a good day.

4. Making dinner together.
A lot of times, dinner is a one person event. Either he makes it, or I make it, but it's a really good time when it is a collaborative effort. It was the perfect addition to the perfect day.

5. Cuddling on the couch.
No perfect day is complete without cuddling on the couch watching a movie. The movie was so-so, but the cuddling was perfect!

I wouldn't mind having that day every Saturday!

Pictures!

I have been incredibly lazy lately, but finally got around to posting some pictures from Easter and my sister's bridal shower! Both events were so much fun and the pictures are great. Camdyn is always so shy when she first sees us, but eventually she warms up to us. This picture on the left is of us the night before Easter. Ironically, we are all wearing K-State apparel, mine is just hidden by Camdyn. The picture on the right is on Easter Sunday and Camdyn and I are playing ring around the rosie! She loves that game! The next couple pictures are of us with Dan's parents on Debi's birthday. Her birthday fell on the day after Easter this year. We were glad we got to stay for lunch and celebrate with her.










These next pictures are from my sister's bridal shower which was just last weekend. We played silly games and had so much fun! Jordan was making a baby out of playdough. Hers didn't turn out too bad.

And of course we opened presents. Just before I snapped the picture, Tiffany was balancing the present on her belly. She got a lot of cute things. Then I took this adorable mother daughter picture! Jordan is getting so big and I think she's going to be a wonderful big sister.

I'll post some more pictures soon! There's so much going on right now!

Quick update

Well, I just thought I would write a quick update as to what is going on in our lives. First of all, I become full time with Big Brothers Big Sisters starting next week. I am very excited about that. I love what I do for the agency, but being part time there were certain things I couldn't do and I also only served Phillips county. Now I will get to do more and help out my boss in Norton with the three other counties we serve. It will be more work, but will be so rewarding!

Dan is doing well after he has finally recovered from playing nine basketball games in one weekend. What was he thinking, right? Well, he had a great time and loved every minute of it. He was just extremely sore afterwards. He also was not getting great sleep and was feeling kind of sick yesterday. But we had a soup dinner and got plenty of sleep and he feels much better today.

This weekend is my sister's baby shower in Manhatan. I am so excited to get to celebrate with her that her little boy will be here very soon! The doctors say that he should be here in a few short weeks. Jordan will be the best big sister! She is very excited to finally have a sibling after being an only child for eight years!

Anyway, that's about all that's going on... except, we bought a new tv! Our justification is that the sound was going out on our old one, sort of. So we bought a 42 inch plasma! Needless to say, Dan is like a little kid waiting for Christmas day to arrive! And I'm pretty excited too. We'll post pictures as soon as the lovely gift arrives! Until then, I hope everyone is doing well and having a great week!

Saying Sorry

I was at my Beth Moore Bible study yesterday and the topic was generational bondage and on the video that we watch, Beth was talking about prejudice. Somehow, I can't tell you how, but she started talking about saying you're sorry. She said we live in a world where it's so typical to place blame on someone else and tell yourself that you have nothing to be sorry about. She said something about why is it that people can't just look at their friend and say genuinely, "I'm so sorry." I had to really think about that and it made me wonder, why is it that we can't just be genuine and say we're sorry. I say we as in our society, but mostly I'm talking about me.

All of this made me think of a dear dear friend who I have had the privelage to get to know again after several years. She was just saying this last Saturday that there was a time in her life where a heartfelt apology would have been so nice to hear and would have made things so much better at that very moment, but those words were never heard. And still have not been heard after a year. It not only ruins that very specific moment, but also has the possibility to ruin many many more moments after that between those two people. I have decided two things since watching that Beth Moore video. First of all, I will not be a person who does not say "I'm sorry." I will say it when I am guilty of doing something that needs apologizing for and I will say it when a friend is having a hard time and needs to hear it when they are going through a difficult time. The second thing is that I will say it as genuinely as my heart will let me. If words can't be spoken genuinely, then maybe they shouldn't be spoken. Well, that's my little rant for today.

On a lighter note, Dan and I are doing very well. Things have been busy, but oh so good! Dan made me watch a video on Stalin last night because he was writing a video guide for his students. He said I needed to watch it so that I could be more educated on history. I disagreed, but watched it anyway and was surprised how interesting it was. I definitely did not like Stalin. Now there's a man who needed to apologize to a LOT of people... but it is too late for him. Bet he's sorry now.

A little late, but still fun!

So I finally have the pictures from my dad's birthday party. It was a fun day for me, but I love any excuse to hang out with my family! I will say that the crab hat might have been the hit of the party. Thanks Mary Jo! Mary Jo is a friend of my mom's, who just happened to be my second mom when I was growing up. Her daughter, Laura, was one of my best friends and is still very dear to me even though we don't get to see each other often. But we had so much fun being crazy kids together! Who am I kidding? I still am a crazy kid! Anyway, here is the crab hat!

And here is it again...

And one more time just for fun!

Wow, we are a super cool family! So I just have to tell this story: When my sister and I were young, ages four and seven, my dad shaved his mustache off, one of his primary physical features. It was his 30th birthday and he was feeling *crazy*. We were so upset by the startling discovery of his smallish upper lip(sorry dad) that we, or at least I, started crying. There is a picture of us in the bathroom and me and my sister were not happy. Dad, being the crazy man he is, decided to shave his mustache again when he turned 40, not so much crying then. Anyway, this being his 50th birthday, we debated back and forth if the upper lip wanted to show off again and guess what... it did! Definitely no tears, well, maybe some from laughter! As dad was shaving it, he stated, "Yep, I can feel it growing back already."

I just love my dad! Overall, I thought the birthday weekend went well and I'm excited about Easter coming up so that I can see my parents and Dan's parents again! Months seem so much longer now that we're in the middle of nowhere!

Here's one more picture of me, Dan, mom and dad at my dad's birthday party! I look like a dork, but everyone else looks cute!

That's all for now! I'll update again after Easter festivities. I'm 99% positive that I'll get to see my little Jordan at least once this weekend and we'll definitely get to see Camdyn. This will be me and Dan's first year to see Camdyn hunt for Easter eggs. She's going to be sooo cute! Until then...

It's finally March

I have been needing to update this thing, but just haven't gotten around to it. And unfortunately, I have no pictures right now. I am waiting for my mom to send me pics from my dad's 50th birthday party because I forgot my camera.
Anyway, Dan and I have been busy lately. Dan is done with bball season, which is wonderful, but is starting to lift weights again now. He also played in a staff vs. seniors basketball game and it reminded me of his MCC days. He was the star player, most definitely! He had so many points! Spring break is also coming up, which is good. His scar is healing really well. Other than that, he's gearing up for March Madness. Me too, but in a totally different way, if you get my drift!
My work has been picking up with Big Brothers Big Sisters, which has been so much fun. I can't say the same for the flower shop, which is where I'm at right now. But that's ok, because it gives me a chance to get other things done. Also, my Bible study has been going well. I have been blessed by the study so far and by the women who are doing it with me.
Overall, things have been going well. I have been reminded lately of how lucky Dan and I are to have great families, great friends(although we don't get to see them that often), a wonderful place to live, and a Lord who loves us and calls us His own.
One last thing: I can't wait until it warms up again... I inherited a love for the summer from my mother! The sun makes me happy... but it hates Dan!