T Minus 3 Months!

3 Months till our due date! There will be many changes going on in the next few months. As of today, I officially have a new job title! I am very excited to be the Director of Retention and Recruitment! The new Dean of Students will do a great job but the transition will take awhile. He will take over Housing, Chapel, Student Conduct, and Career Services. My new position includes Admissions, Student Retention Programs, Student Activities, and the Orientation Classes. Many of the things I dreaded and/or despised about work are no longer in my job description!! I did not see this plan coming, but am thanking the Lord!! No job is perfect or without stress, but my stress will change and be greatly reduced so I can be a better wife and mother! All of this came about 2 days before Thanksgiving Break and was made official today. Crazy good!

Over the break I got a new vehicle...I'm so glad that whole saga is over. We prayed that we would make wise decisions throughout the process in settling with the insurance. As I payed bills tonight I thanked God for taking a very negative situation (totalling my car) and turning it into a positive.

I started decorating for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving. So far, I have 2 of my 3 trees decorated and my santa collection out. More to do, but I tire out pretty quickly these days. After about the 30th time of hitting my belly on the same corner, I got pissed and decided to take a decorating break. Josh told me I had to learn how to get around as a big body...he makes me laugh :-) Here are a few pictures to prove I am in the Christmas spirit.

The large, non-pre-lit, silver and gold tree.

The "special tree." I like to collect ornaments from everywhere I go and the tree holds many years of special memories.

We are cuddling up on this chilly night. Here's a picture of my sweet boys enjoying a night at home!

Jon and Kate, Thanksgiving Break, Goodness Sakes

Everyone around here is ready for the next few days! On our campus it means ALL the students have to go because we close the residence halls and offices and thus, everyone can actually relax for a bit! I hope to blog during the break, but I realized it had been a week so I decided a post was neccessary today.

My doctor's appointment went well! I gained 4 pounds which is right on track and all my measurements were "perfect" according to the doctor. The visit was very short and sweet. I have the glucose test and an ultrasound next month. That being said, we've decided to wait until after that appointment to announce a name. I am a lunatic, but it is seriously my luck to tell you all my precious little girl's name only to find out in 4 weeks that "she" is actually a "he" - which would really send me into a tailspin! Everytime we do an ultrasound (i've had 4) she has been a little shy, facing the back, or crossing her legs, so "90% sure it's a girl" is the best I've gotten from the Dr. You'll just have to wait on her awesome little name until her lunatic mother accepts that 90% sure is pretty much a sure thing. Goodness Sakes.

We finally settled with the insurance over my wreck will be car shopping. Pray for us - car shopping will challenge our two very different personalities to get along. I will be very intense, focused, down to business. Josh will be very "go with the flow," "we don't have to decide right this minute," "just calm down." Lord give me patience and kind words... And a great new vehicle that I love and won't have buyers remorse over!!!!

Last night I watched the final episode of Jon & Kate Pluse 8. I was a huge fan of the show...you know the ones when they were married. I have made a conscious decision not to watch the show since they announced their divorce. Honestly, it broke my heart, I cried. Neither Jon or Kate was without fault, Lord knows she said some things she regrets, but I just loved watching them and their kids, warts and all. They are Christians, they demonstrated their faith without being pushy or fake, but now it's like watching 2 totally different people. What happened to the Jon who wore t-shirts with bible verses or references or who said his favorite part of their Hawaiin vow renewal was "all the scripture in the vows?" What happened to the Kate who had a million index cards in her kitchen with verses on them and who talked openly about their church? Most everyone has an opinion on this family (I won't open up that can of worms,) but the fact is the demise of their marriage is heartbreaking, losing another Christian presence on television is frustrating, and knowing that those kids will forever have access to some unflattering and untrue stories and photos and opinions of their parents is concerning. I watched last night so I could have closure - I told you I was a fan, I even have Kate's first book- now I hope they will seek God in all they do and eventually HE will be glorified through them.

Ramblings

* Just to get this out of the way...the CBC Mustangs are now 5-0! I'm so glad they won Tuesday night - not just because I like to win - but because they drove 8 hours to get there, I had to spend a weeknight by myself, and again, everyone on the team scored! Long trips are hard on everyone involved, so at least you feel like it's worth it with a win.

* Tuesday night, I had only my 2nd or 3rd out-of-the-blue pregnancy emotional meltdown. I was sad, I wasn't scared - the tears just came. I left work and got in "big red," my Pop's truck that I'm driving until I get a new vehicle. I guess the smell of the truck (he was a smoker,) the time of the year, and overall insano hormones combined and I just started crying. I cried all the way to El Acapulco (because nachos mexicanos is always the answer for tears - happy or sad ones,) I was also doing the semi praying out loud/talking to myself thing...Glad it was dark because I looked CRAZY. I even started laughing at myself at one point.

So, I get to El Acapulco, dry the tears, get my food, get back in "big red," and Steven Curtis Chapman's new song comes on the radio. Seriously - I couldn't control myself - the song is called "Heaven is the Face." If you're not familiar with the story of his daughter's death, google it or go to http://www.stevencurtischapman.com/. The lyrics are so honest, so sad, yet so beautiful.

I had only heard the song once before this night, but what stood out to me was his description of heaven in the bridge of the song:

But in my mind's eye I can see a place
Where your glory fills every empty space.
All the cancer is gone,
Every mouth is fed,
and there's no one left in the orphan's bed.
Every lonely heart finds their one true love,
And there's no more goodbye,
And no more not enough,
And there's no more enemy.

Amen! That kind of just pumps me up!

I was originally trying to come up with a Thanksgiving post, you know "I'm thankful for..." but I couldn't do it. It would be way too long, too sappy, I would feel guilty later for leaving someone out unintentionally. But, in this season, I am so thankful for heaven and all the aspects of grace, redemption, love, promise, and joy that it brings mind. Both my Pop and Papa are there, along with many other loved ones - of course we miss these loved ones, but oh my how I rejoice knowing where they are. All because of the salvation they were offered and accepted through Christ during their life on this earth.

Ok, I'm crying, I'll move on.

* I go to the doctor this afternoon! I'm wearing a dress today, only because it was the lightest thing I could think of to wear as I have to be weighed after lunch! Last month I had gained 7 pounds --- exuse me? Yes, 7. I had gained a total of 3 up until that point so 7 was extreme! I really was not alarmed. I know I'm going to gain weight, I love to eat and I'm growing a human inside me, so I totally embrace the pounds. HOWEVER - I need to put myself in a good position to be able to get back to normal after this human is out of me.

I have been on the treadmill this month, probably averaging 3 or 4 days a week, for an average of 20 minutes each session. My treadmill has an incline up to 10, so I make up new workouts each time, adjusting speed and incline, so that I don't get bored and quit. It's nice to workout just to make yourself feel better and be heathly - not for specific outcomes like bathing suit season.

*I'll end the ramblings here. I'll have a doctor's report in the next post (and maybe even the revealing of the name!) Have a great rest of the week!

Consider it a "babymoon"

Josh and I spent the weekend in Branson. It was the ONLY weekend until the baby is born that we didn't have a basketball game or major holiday. We headed up on Friday and went to the Dixie Stampede - love it. Everything in Branson is already Christmas, even the shows, so I had to be "in the spirit" even though it's not even Thanksgiving.

First picture of the trip. I looked terrible, but we were happy just to have a change of scenery and time together away from work and basketball.

During the Dixie Stampede pre-show. Please note the boot mug...it was the highlight of the pre-show.

After the Dixie Stampede, we went to the festival of lights. Even though it's too early (in my opinion) for Christmas, who doesn't love some lights?!

On Saturday we went to breakfast and then headed to Tanger Outlets. Oh my. We had to park on some gravel behind the outlet mall -- needless to say it was crowded! We went in a majority of the stores but hardly bought anything at all. I would find 1 or 2 things, but refused to stand in line at a checkout for 30 minutes just for 1 or 2 items. My impatience saved us tons of money! Even with a lack of bargains, the weather was nice and it just felt good to walk and not be in a hurry.

We headed out to the Landing for a late lunch, did a little more looking and then headed back to the condo for nap time! Saturday night we were not hungry, so we had ColdStone for dinner, played putt-putt, and drove through the Trail of Lights [not to be confused with the Festival of Lights.]

PUMPED about more pre-thanksgiving Christmas Lights.

I love my husband so much and am so grateful we had a little time to "babymoon."

In other news, here is a 25 week pregnant picture. I go to the doctor on Thursday and am looking forward to hearing that precious little heart beat! She has been pretty active and I'm feeling pretty heavy these days. But. overall I feel great!

3-0

The Mustangs are off to a great start this season! All three of our first games have been at home, which is some fine scheduling by the coach I must say. We travel to Paragould Thursday to play Crowley's Ridge College, which will be a good game I'm told.



Our first game was the night of my wreck. I only saw 1 minute of regulation and then overtime. I was so traumatized by that point, the closeness of the game didn't even phase me :-) Here is link to the newspaper write up about that game.



http://thecabin.net/news/2009-11-06/cbc-wins-overtime-against-williams-baptist



Our second game was Saturday against Lyon. Our play improved and I was proud of this win as well! Both Williams and Lyon have solid programs, so these were good wins for us. I can't find the link to the Log Cabin Democrat Article and the State Paper just included us in the "sports breifs section Sunday and Today (Wednesday) as well. [I'm not complaining, we generally get NO LOVE from any local media, so I'm happy with the coverage.]



Last night's game was against Shepard College - this was their first game EVER. Needless to say our bench played most of the night and everyone, I mean everyone, on our team scored. I couldn't help but feel bad for the other team. We've been there, I know how it feels. As a small college, CBC has to play garuntee games to help fund the athletic program. Most of these games are in the Men's Basketball program - joy. So, we go play NCAA Division 1 and Division 2 teams and get paid for it. We compete with these larger schools most of the time, but then there are times when we play someone like Tennessee Martin and this happens:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_Hudson



Yes, the only player in NCAA history to do this, and it's against little old CBC. We just had to go with the "any press is good press" theory, because CBC was mentioned on SportsCenter.



And then last year, as I tune in on my laptop to our game against Arkansas State and we were UP BY 5....I thougt I was hallucinating...but don't worry ASU called a timeout and kicked it into that D1 overdrive and beat us pretty handidly. But, it's a fun memory.



Our players enjoy competing against these larger schools - one thing is for sure: WE ARE NOT SCARED. I won't mention names, but this year, some schools in our area refused to schedule us or cancelled on us before the season started. For some reason, that brings me a tiny bit of personal satisfaction.





09-10 Season so far....

November 3 vs. Williams Baptist -- CBC Won 86-80

November 7 vs. Lyon College -- CBC Won 78-67

November 10 vs. Shepherd College -- CBC Won 89-51

The Season Started with a Bang...or More Like a Crash

I was involved in a car accident Tuesday night as I was on my way to the gym for the game.








I was stopped in a line of traffic at a red light and was rear ended (HARD,) which caused me to hit the car in front of me, and that car hit the vehicle in front of it. I saw it coming. The first thing I thought after I opened my eyes was, "the airbag didn't go off!" I know this is a blessing because I would have been much worse off if the airbag would have hit me and the baby.

I got out of the car and called 911. Everyone was fine, I definitley had the most damage and I was SCARED. TERRIFIED. SCARED TO LOOK DOWN. The 911 dispatcher repeatedly asked me if I was ok, I told her I was 23 weeks pregnant. Again, "are you ok?" "I think so." After the 5th or 6th time, I finally said " ma'am I'm talking to you, standing, walking, don't appear to be bleeding, don't think anything is broken, but I dont know if I'm ok."

The guy who hit me heard me tell 911 I was pregnant and he immediately went into a low-level panic. I couldn't help but feel a little bad for him. Well, after I hung up with 911, I tried to call Josh. It took several phone calls to several different people to get him on the phone. He was in the locker room, bless his heart. Thankfully, my father-in-law was in Conway and my mom was on I40.

It seemed like 30 minutes before the police got to the scene of the accident. I was shaking out of fear, I felt confident I was ok, but I needed to know my baby was ok. During the waiting period and phrenzy of phone calls a precious stranger walked up to me and asked if she could pray for me. I don't remember her name, what I said to her, or even most of the prayer she prayed, but God Bless Her! She prayed for me and the baby, and I'll never forget this stranger.

Finally, the police came, the tow truck came, and an ambulance arrived. I decided to let my father in law take me to the hospital ( I have since been reprimanded several times for not riding in the ambulance, but get over it, I was in shock, I didn't know that was a big deal.) My mom was at the ER waiting. I got in fairly quickly and we heard baby girl's heart beat first thing. The heartbeat was strong and she was moving alll around - I immediatley felt better! Everything checked out fine, I finally stopped shaking, so mom and I headed to the gym.

I caught the last 2 minutes of the game, as they went into overtime. I had had such a traumatic night, that I wasnt even nervous during such a close game! The Mustangs won in overtime by 6 - thank goodness. It was such a crazy night, I was so scared, but I felt the presence of God the entire time.

Josh and I have had many conversations about how many things actually went right in this situation. We are so blessed with family and friends and a workplace that has been so supportive. My car is totaled, so we are dealing with all the insurance and junk like that. This is one of those times I just want someone else to handle it, but I'm the grown up here. We are just thankful that the baby is ok, I am working through my soreness, and trusting the Lord with the stress of all the details that come along with paper work and settlement decisions.

Keep us in your prayers!

IT'S GAME DAY!

GO Mustangs!! CBC v. Williams Baptist tonight at 7:00.

November 1

My due date is 4 months from today!! Monday will mark the 23 week mark in this pregnancy! It is good to finally be looking pregnant. Until about 2 weeks ago, I just looked a little chubbier than normal...I described it as my "pooch getting poochier." But now, the belly is rounding and I'm looking as pregnant as I feel!

I can not even describe how much I LOVE feeling every little movement the baby is making! It is still just magical to me. I woke up at 4:00 am this morning and she was kicking all over my left side. I have never felt her on my left side, it was like she discovered a whole new territory early early this morning. I was sleepy but it made me smile just laying there feeling her kick and roll!

I've had a great few days off, although I've spent a lot of time in the car. Halloween was a non-event for us. We weren't even home to greet the trick-or-treaters because we went to Crowley's Ridge to scout some teams. I did dress Henry up in his King costume and took a picture before we left!

The drive to North East Arkansas is SOOO boring, but we were a little shocked by all the flooding we saw. My heart goes out to all those farmers and land owners whose fields now look like lakes. We actually had to drive through water that was covering the road twice. As thankful as I was all weekend for beautiful sunshine, I know these people are even more thankful for a break from rain.

I hope you have all enjoyed your weekend. Have a great Monday!!