Our Whirlwind...

Well all, I figure it's about time I update our friends and family on the whirlwind adventure that is our lives! A LOT has happened in the last few months. Last time I blogged, Brian was planning on launching his own company, we were planning on moving in December, and hoping to try and get pregnant this fall. Ever heard that saying about trying to make plans and God laughing at you? This is our life. Officially, all plans have been squashed. Surprisingly, it's kinda fun. It's helpful to know God's got this this under control! Here's the run down:

We’re Pregnant!

Yup. Baby on board. Or in the oven.. whatever. This is the news that changed it all. It wasn't completely unplanned. We had actually decided to start trying last November and were pregnant in February! Woo Hoo. That was quick. Unfortunately, we lost that baby at six weeks. This was sad, but not earth shattering. We knew miscarriages are pretty common and that God had a plan, so we moved on! At this point we had decided to wait until fall to start trying again. This would give my body time to heal and us a chance to do some heavy traveling this summer! (The goal was a few weeks in Southeast Asia). Well, needless to say, nine weeks after the miscarriage, doc told us we were nine weeks pregnant. That didn't take long.

We are SO EXCITED!! We're due November 17. We'll know July 11 if it's a boy or a girl. Of course we both have our guesses, and they change regularly. We're getting closer to narrowing down names, and have been checking out nursery options. SO FUN! I'm finished with our registry already. That was a BLAST. All we have left to add are a few gender specific items and we'll be done! WOO HOO! :) For those planning to attend a shower, you can go ahead and save the date now!

Morristown, TN - August 10

Zion, Illinois - September 14

Belleville, IL (STL) - September 21

Being pregnant has been absolutely wonderful. I am so grateful to be able to say this pregnancy has been easy breezy so far (knock on wood!). The first trimester was loaded with exhaustion and headaches, but no major nausea or sickness. Actually, I was STARVING all the time! I craved fruity stuff: fresh fruit, fruit snacks, popsicles, juice, starbursts... anything! The second trimester has been fairly sick-free with the exception of some pretty awesome emotional meltdowns. My poor husband. 

Anyway, here is some photo documentation of the adventure: 

Baby at 9 weeks

Baby at 13 weeks

Baby belly at 15 weeks

THe Move

The plan is still to move to the St. Louis area. However, before the plan was to wait until December. Now we've decided it would be a little more adventure than we're willing to take on to try and move with a newborn, or even late in the pregnancy, so now the goal is to move around August. We've been house shopping like crazy! It's a more difficult process than we'd anticipated, for sure! Of course we have all of our little preferences and expectations, and a budget... and it's like a puzzle! We did find one perfect little dream house that we both fell in love with. It was a HUD foreclosure so we put a bid on it and lost by $72! Ouch! We're headed back up to STL in two weeks to look at more houses. 

The Jobs

Everything has changed. Brian has actually changed plans and is now staying on with LEP (his current company). He will partner as a VP and launch a "West" branch out in STL! We are so thrilled about this opportunity. We are so blessed to be a part of this incredible company and know that there is so much potential. Brian is going to be able to work from home for a while, which means being close to me and baby! :) 

Before baby, I planned to work through December. Since I'm pregnant, however, and moving earlier and than expected, I quit! Ahhh! I'm unemployed for the first time since I was 15. CRAZY! It's a really weird feeling but I am sooo looking forward to staying home with our new baby... and trying for a few more! 

It truly is entertaining how whirlwind-y our life is right now :) My sister-in-law, Brittany is always chiming how we're such planners and not everything is going to work out how we planned. Oh wise Brittany. :) Boy does she know what she's talking about! So now the plan is to just do our best with what we've been given and make wise choices! Feel free to pray for us as we go through a bazillion changes and figure out how in the world to be responsible, wise, Godly parents. 

We'll keep you in the loop!

"What I love most about this crazy life is the adventure of it."

- Juliette Binoche

Get 'Er Done!

I don't know why the phrase "Get Er Done" popped into my head. I'm nowhere near redneck. Or at least I don't think I am. That'd be pretty entertaining. Regardless, while thinking up a semi-clever title for the update I'm about to bestow, "Get 'Er Done" was my first thought. Out of curiosity, I Googled it. Here's what UrbanDictionary.com has to say about the phrase:

A ridiculously vacuous phrase most often uttered by white middle-class suburbanites and lower-class city dwellers to express an imaginary connection with the country or cowboy lifestyles. Most often used in reference to a task, since it is a take on "get her done," meaning to finish a job, primarily something associated with blue-collar work. The biggest fans of this phrase and its subsiquent cultural niche are those who either have never lived on a farm, never seen a cow, or are unhealthily obsessed with country music. They most often drive pick-up trucks that they don't actually haul anything in, but like to rig out with winches and toolboxes as if they've got important things to do. Similar to poser and cowboy up.

I thought it was entertainingly appropriate. We fit several aspects of this description: "white (well, almost) middle-class suburbanite, imaginary connection to country (that would be our life in Morristown), blue-collar, never lived on a farm, [semi] obsessed with country music, drive a pick up that doesn't [usually] haul anything." 

::Chuckle::

Regardless. We're "getting stuff done." Here's what you wanna know:

Our house was on the market for 13 days when we got our first offer. It was $10k under asking price but we met her in the middle and accepted. One inspection, an appraisal, and a couple of small repairs later: we're moving this Friday. Whirlwind!

In the meantime, we've been scrounging for a place to live! As you may or may not know, the game plan is to be here until December(ish). That means we need to live here in Morristown for the next 9 months. 

The figuring has been an adventure in itself. In the last two weeks, we've had three different temporary homes lined up. They keep falling through. Ironically, this last choice may or may not be over a sink hole. Hopefully that one doesn't "fall through" too. Haahahah! Get it? 

Worried about the sink hole? No worries. That's a whole 'nother story. 

The point is: We've made our first major step to moving! It's probably a good thing. I don't think my mother would be very proud if she knew I was going around saying phrases like, "Get Er Done." 

Out with the Old, in with the New!

Well, big things are happening out here in Morristown. It's gonna be a whirlwind of a year, I'll tell you that much. This week alone has had quite the exciting little milestones!

Out with the OLD!

Well, our house is officially on the market! According to the realtor, she can lose her liscence if we "advertise" for ourselves, so this is not an advertisement, just a "Woo Hoo! Please pray!" With this down economy, houses aren't going for nearly what they're worth, and having only been in this house for a few years, we are in a sticky wicket! We wanna get out (so we can move closer to our family in STL!) but we just haven't been here long enough to get out without losing money. MAJOR BUMMER! Regardless, we're going through with it anyway and just hoping, praying, and crossing our fingers that someone bites for something near the asking price. This first week has been encouraging. We've had four different viewings, which is good for little ol' Morristown! All four have said they've LOVED the house... we're just waiting on that one who decides to make an offer! If you know someone who is interested (or someone who is looking for a good realtor in the area), have them contact Terry. She's awesome!

Check out the listing here.

In with the NEW!

In addition to selling the house (and a million other projects we have going on), Brian is still busy launching his new company! I (Denise) am so proud of all of his hard work, and we are both really excited to see where this all goes. Ooohh, the adventures of life. This week, Brian got his official business license, registered for his first vendor conferences (coming up in March), and opened his business account! He also received his beautiful new business cards in the mail! Please keep Brian in your thoughts and prayers as he embarks on this exciting, yet intimidating (I'm sure) adventure!

Happy New Year!

Maybe we're getting old, but this year when we realized New Years was falling on an annoying Tuesday and getting together with friends out of town would be difficult, we were kinda... a little bit... pretty much relieved. I know. OLD. Not because we don't love them - we actually miss you all terribly! But traveling some more... wasn't looking forward to it.

Then our friends here in town decided to go to Knoxville for the night. They're all young (our age) - no children... It was gonna be fun and sassy and exactly what a twenty-something year old couple should do on New Years. Buuuut... we declined. Instead, this adventurous duo curled up on the couch and watch hours upon hours of our new fav show: Modern Family. :)

Neither of us were really even interested in watching Carson Daly. Lame, right?

But alas... we did keep one New Years tradition: The good ol resolutions. So, for your reading pleasure, here they are:

Brian:
- Teach Financial Peace University @ Church
- Exercise & play more sports.

Denise
- Write a cook book (You can see some of the recipes as we work on them at www.ourpaleoplaybook.blogspot.com)
- keep up with meal planning & cooking (we're really good at eating out)

Both of us together:

- Sell the house (it goes on the market Tuesday!)

- Get our of Debt (scheduled for this summer!)

- Keep up better with all of you! So.. you can hold us accountable for that. Expect a birthday card this year :) 

Christmas in Chicago!

This year, we're spending the week of Christmas at Mom & Curt's! As always, the schedule is packed with fun and family! :) We left Morristown on Thursday morning, with threat of a snow storm bogging down the end of our drive, but by the time we arrived in Chicago, it was free and clear! :) YAY!

Friday - Chicago Botanical Gartens with Mom & Curt!

If you haven't had a chance to visit the Botanical Gardens, it was a fun outing.

Saturday
We spent the morning with the pups at the park, played at home in the afternoon, and were surprised when Devin & Katie showed up a day early! THEN we got to start opening presents! Phase 1 of present opening was stockings and sibling gifts. SO FUN! Stocking time at our house is a blast. Apparently, it's not completely normal for all of the gifts in the stocking to be wrapped. Well, ours are. When we were kids, we used to get out our stockings on Christmas Eve and try to guess each individually wrapped item. We were told if we could guess everything, we could open ALL of our presents a day early! Of course, there was always one weird item we just would never guess. Over the years, the tradition has held - we spend time guessing every item in the stocking, and there are ALWAYS items we would never dream of guessing. :)

Sunday

The whole clan piled up and headed off to Grandma & Grandpa's house! Of course, there was lots of yummy food and the whole family was there. Eli played the whole time with Olivia, which was adorable, and Mom & Curt got to catch up with family they hadn't seen in a while. We even had phone conversations on speaker with some of the fam that couldn't make it. Good times, good times! ;) 

When we got home, we went to Phase 2 of presents: Grown Up Presents! Once we put the little ones to bed, the grown ups got to have present opening time. Of course, we were all spoiled. Denise's favorites: North Face tri-climate, bright yellow tea kettle, and my HUGE new crock pot! Brian's favorites: North face jacket, my Dremel set, and my basketball!

Monday
Since the whole family is rarely ever together, we figure Christmas is a good time to get some family photos done! It's a lot of fun to get out together and goof off... except the part where it's FUH-REEZING cold in Chicago in December. We were super grateful the wind wasn't bad. And we were super impressed that Eli & Avaya stuck it out as long as they did! We spent about an hour and a half outside in the frigid cold (don't worry - the kids took breaks in the heated car) and we came up with these!

The Whole Fam... casually sitting on a random bench in the woods.. having a conversation. It's what we do...

I'm pretty sure this was Eli's favorite part of the whole day.

Devin & Our Gorgeous Sister, Katie.

Avaya @ 9 months - Happy Go Lucky!

I never wanted sisters - til I got these! Love them SO MUCH!!! [L-R: Brittany, Katie, Denise]

L-R: Katie & Devin, Curt & Mom (Diane), Denise & Brian, and DJ & Brittany

That's icy snow on the ground right there - first and last "snow" we've seen all year. 

This was the end of our super long, freezing cold shoot. Our hands were numb and our boots were soaked through. And the kids were NOT HAPPY. In this picture we're pretending there are not two screaming kids in the background. Don't judge.

Bon Voyage Bucket List: Biltmore

6. Biltmore 


Today we completed #6 of our Bon Voyage bucket list! Biltmore is the largest privately owned house in America. Visiting this phenomenal home was so much fun! We are so grateful mom and curt were able to come join us for this day trip!

In the Conservatory

Mom & Curt, in the Conservatory

Loving the Pink Flamingos in the conservatory!

In front of the Conservatory. Can you imagine just having this in your back yard? As part of your garden? Craaaazy.

On the back porch... In front of the beautiful North Carolina scenery

Biltmore front yard

Walkway to the back porch

Denise asked Santa for a pony for Christmas. Brian asked Santa that Denise not get a pony. Lame.

Mom & Denise in the front yard.