Sad but true...

So, I took my walking buddy friend out for a birthday lunch and then visited some of her favorite stores ( PierOne and Hobby Lobby) and my feet are now so tired that when I got home and found a giant box from Target sitting on the front porch...a box that MOST DEFINITELY has my baby bedding in it...I was too tired to open it.

That's right. I'm too tired to open the box I've been THE MOST excited about getting....seriously. Sad.

hahaha!

But, don't worry I'll rest up and once Tabitha arrives this weekend I have a feeling between the two of us we're going to have the Ransom Room whipped into tip top picture worthy shape. In fact, I've been thinking that I have yet to post pictures of our house since we moved in almost two months ago! How have I lost track of time! So, I'll have to go around and make everything look "catalogue worthy" and then quickly take pictures so that you can all get the crazy notion in your heads that I'm neat and tidy all the time ;-) It'll be our own fun little game that we play.

And yes, I'm excited about this weekend Tabitha is coming to visit for until the middle of next week, and also the 4th of July celebration is this weekend...honestly, I don't even think being pregnant is going to be able to stop me from enjoying one of my FAVORITE holidays...fireworks, plus grilled foods and yummy deserts ( ice-cream)...I'm a fan.

Baby freak out.

I'm procrastinating going to the grocery store right this minute. Its ridiculously hot outside.
In the first few minutes of my morning walk this morning I was already feeling sluggish. Its definitely getting close to July. I can feel it in every part of me.

I've been going on morning walks with a lady who I met at Bible Study a few weeks ago. She and her husband rejoined the Army after being out for 17 years! So its really interesting to get her perspective and she's definitely helped me to get myself in gear and get my exercise in every day!

In other news I'm happy to report that operation Get Ready for Baby is starting to take more shape. Brett put together the car seat and stroller yesterday and I ordered the bedding ( sooooo excited about this!!). Yet, today as I was sitting in my comfy chair staring at the baby room ( which is still very much in disarray. haha), I realized-what I'm sure most new mom's realize-that I have NO idea what I'll do once Ransom actually comes!!

I guess I need to start reading Baby books! Eek! Luckily I ( most likely) have at least a month more to go...

Mega Score

So, over the weekend Brett and I visited Ikea. A store that makes Brett stressed ( because of all the stimulation overload that the store has to offer) and makes me spend money ( because of all the stimulation overload that the store has to offer). So basically, if we do the store together it keeps ME at bay and...well....poor Brett.

But, anyways. On this particular trip to Ikea Brett remained calm and I remained frugal and all in all it was a major success.

First off, we bought a coffee table, which is excellent news for anyone who's been to our house lately and seen the sad excuse for a coffee table we've been using ever since the movers broke it when we moved in.

And then, we also got two little toys for Ransom because, well, maybe the stimulation overload got to me and Brett was too tired to stop me. And besides I'm a sucker for brightly colored yet also minimalist toys that ALSO cost $1.99 a piece. And THEN came the major score of the day....a crib mattress.

Crib mattresses cost around 80 or so dollars at most places ( Target, Babies R Us, Wal-Mart) and that's for the cheap ones...but not at Ikea. OH NO. At Ikea you can get a similar mattress for $39.99. I was positively gitty over my savings!!

So, because of the amazing savings I also got a super bright and adorable new duvet cover for the guest bedroom...afterall, Tabitha is coming to visit this weekend to kick start what I like to call The Ransom Tour of 2010-when we're going to be pulling a serious rotating door policy on the guest bedroom while Brett is in Ranger School and I'm home "alone" with a new born....so to have a really cute yellow and white stripped duvet cover just seemed right.

This is what I call love...

So, in case you've missed out I've now posted TWICE about Snicker's Dark ( the Snickers bar that is made with DARK CHOCOLATE making an already perfect candy bar EVEN BETTER)....Anyway, in my last post, I lamented that I could no longer find the "mini" versions of this candy bar, which is a problem...because we all know that eating your weight in minis is better for you then eating one full-sized candy bar. ( That's SCIENCE, baby!)

Anyway, look what my husband did for me....



That's right, he went out and bought me dark chocolate snicker's bars and then cut them up into bite sized pieces and put them in a Tupperware container for my convenience.

I know, he's the best husband ever. You're jealous. As you should be.

Get out of Dodge

So, I took a picture of my wall calendar to illustrate this post...but it didn't really turn out, and you guys have probably had enough of my bad iphone pictures of late...so you'll just have to believe me when I say, BRETT AND I ARE BUSY.

In fact, we're so busy that we decided to not wait for free time ( because that never happened) and instead we're going away on a weekend when things are actually happening and we're just going to miss out. No biggie.

Because honestly I'm tired. I'm tired and I need to relax. And more importantly, Brett's tired and HE needs to relax. Here are words that came out of my mouth yesterday:
"I can't wait to have this baby so then things will slow down!"

Ok, so I was mostly kidding, but part of me was serious ( which is sad and terribly naive). And this is no way to live.

Its mostly no way to live because as I look around, our lives are pretty exciting and great and I couldn't be happier with the work we're doing here at Fort Benning, or the people we're getting to hang out with...and yet, because of the tiredness and the "not enough butter spread over too much bread" ( name that quote*) feeling I don't feel like we're enjoying our lives as much as we could be.

And so this afternoon Brett and I are going to Atlanta, where we're going to stay in a nice hotel ( and we all know how much Abigail likes nice hotels, don't we?!?), and we're going to eat Chipotle ( because we all know how much Brett and Abigail love Chipotle, don't we?!?), and we're going to visit Ikea ( because we all know how Brett and Abigail need a new coffee table and this also gives them excuse to eat cheap swedish meatballs and browse the awesomeness of Ikea) and we're going to finish the book series that we've been reading out loud to each other since Christmas ( because we all know how much Brett and Abigail like to read out loud to each other, don't we?! ) and we're going to watch movies in a movie theatre ( and we all know how much Abigail and Brett love to go see movies, don't we?) and we're going to sleep in ( because we all know how much Abigail values her sleep, don't we?! And its now been SO LONG since Brett and Abigail have gotten to sleep in that EVEN BRETT is starting to look forward to this activity)....and we'll probably do some other things too...

Wish us well...I'll be back next week!

One of my favorite things...

A lot of people take their jewelry off every day...I, because of my super laziness, do not do this. Of course, this means that things that I loooove to wear just stay on until they start to get 'sad' ( such as my wedding rings, and the one necklace I wear every day) and then I have to take them off and give them some TLC.

Today I noticed that my necklace was getting a little dull looking and so I took it off and gave it a good polish.

I love this necklace. I love it for so many reasons. I love it because it reminds me of a once and a life time trip that I took to Italy with two of my dear friends ( where I first saw a necklace like it and then spent the rest of the trip scouring jewelry stores looking for one-finally found it in Florence!) . It reminds me of a very interesting period in my growth with Christ ( lets just say when I bought this necklace the idea of a "crooked cross had MULTIPLE meanings for me!) , and I also love it because its SO unique! In fact, I don't think I've seen another cross like it here in the USA!

Mystery

First of all, and this isn't really that important in normal day-to-day life...but if you're eight and a half months pregnant than it SO IS IMPORTANT. But, basically, if you remember I posted a few weeks ago about my current obsession with Snicker's Dark ( the Dark Chocolate version of the already perfect Snicker's Bar) and how I'd basically inhaled an entire bag of the Snicker's Dark minis ( wait, you mean I didn't tell you that in my post?!? nevermind)

Anyway, it was as though I somehow jinxed myself in writing that post because EVER SINCE the bags of Snicker's Dark have DISAPPEARED off the shelves of ALL SUPERMARKETS!!! Now if I want to revel in this dark chocolate-ly goodness I have to buy the NORMAL SIZE Snicker's Dark....now this isn't necessarily a tragedy, but there is something wonderful about those "fun sized" candy bars...you can eat a few and somehow it doesn't seem as bad for you. Its as though the calorie count always stays low even if you DO eat the whole bag ( because they're LITTLE). Anyway. I'm sad. And I want my mini candy bars back. WHERE DID THEY GO!??!

Its been a while...

It is truly amazing how quickly your "norms" change! A year ago today going to bed alone with my computer for company was totally a matter of course. In fact, I'd been doing it for eight months! Looking back at my blog from this time its funny that I'd just thrown a baby shower for my friend Katie, Lindsay was living with me and I was having fun times with the girls from the Fort Lewis ministry and I was just starting to get pumped about Brett's R&R in less than a month, deployment was no longer a "super scary" thing..instead it was just day to day life and something that both Brett and I had learned to deal with
....and now here I am at Fort Benning, getting ready to have my own baby (!!) and for the first time in ages I'm going to bed alone again! Now it seems so strange and totally awful all over again!

For this I am grateful, I am glad that for the past eight months I've had very few lonely nights courtesy of the Army, I am grateful that while the bonds with friends here have been harder in coming, I know that God has done a lot of work in my life over the past year and that Brett and my relationship is even stronger now. Brett and my friendship is all the stronger-something that I can thank that deployment a year ago, as well as these past eight months at Fort Benning for building.

It is because of all these experiences that I am not completely afraid of Brett's upcoming Ranger School experience ( its coming up in August)...while it IS scary, I know that some how we'll get through it. And one day we'll be able to look back at it too and see how it was yet another thing that helped shape our relationship.

solar power

So, holy moly. My week of Vacation Bible School OFFICIALLY took its toll today. I mean, I know I said I was tired yesterday...but that did NOT compare to today!

I knew it was going to be bad when, every time I got up in the middle of the night last night I noticed that my feet where still tired feeling...not a good sign when you're worn out before you even get out of bed in the AM!

And yes, I realize I have six more weeks to go-but I cannot WAIT to be back to normal and not have someone sucking all of my energy ( not to mention being all giant...that's not fun either)! Oh, and of course, I can't wait to meet Ransom either...hehe. In fact, I'm getting more and more excited about his arrival. His room has become a favorite hang out place for me ( for one thing my "comfy chair" has taken up residence there) and today I started working on his Solar System Mobile.

Ummm....

Lets all take a moment to think upon the fact that I am NOT crafty.
*sigh*

However, I think it'll turn out ok. Maybe not awesome but still pretty cute. At least the planets themselves are super cool and even glow in the dark! I'm hoping they'll distract from my less than perfect mobile making.
Stay tuned for pictures...

Did you notice?

I changed the background and layout of my blog...the jury is still out on whether I like it...but I DO think its fitting for summer!

Making Life interesting

I think the first time I really mentioned Jaymon was in this post here regarding a certain smoke alarm and a pair of linen pants ( go figure), but I feel like I should give him more props than that!

I am very aware that its not normal to have "random" people living in your attic, but its something that both Brett and I feel strongly about, and we are glad that we can have an open home where people can come and live with us and share in our lives as we try to follow Christ and try to minister to the soldiers and families of Fort Benning...

It has been beyond cool to share our lives with Jaymon and best of all to share in his life, like last week he was out doing army training for most of the week and wasn't home until Thursday-but we got to rejoice in the fact that he was able to lead a bible study for the other guys in his platoon while he was away "roughing it" in the field getting a million and one chigger bites.
Considering Brett and I got to hear about his successes after our own very long days, it was encouraging to see God working in someone elses life. In fact, sometimes, I get all the encouragement I need from watching the Lord's faithfulness in the lives of those around me-I am then reminded that my own life is no different, it just may LOOK and SEEM different to me!!

Anyway, this past weekend we got to introduce Jaymon to my parents and it was great fun to share yet another wonderful friend with them. It does not take long to see just how much fun " Jaymoney" is to have around ( Jaymon actually came up with his own nickname, lamenting that he couldn't believe his friends weren't smart enough to see that all you have to do is add an "ey" to the end of his name...) and I think he kind of steps up his humor the more people we have in the house...a classic sanguine personality he thrives on an audience.

I am already thanking God that he and Brett will be going to Ranger School together at the end of August and I pray that they are able to stay together the whole way through....

But, until then...here's a picture of them putting together Ransom's baby furniture:

Not sixteen anymore...

This week I've been helping out with Vacation Bible School here on Fort Benning. When I volunteered to help out and then showed up at the planning meeting they took one look at my giant belly and pointed me towards the Snacks Team. HAHA!
Believe me, I didn't complain, I've always been partial to snacks and I figured the energy level that I would need to prepare snacks every day in a kitchen full of women would be a loooot less than shuttling around a bunch of 5 to 7 year olds!
It has been a lot of fun thus far, but I've found that I have to come home and put my feet up for a seriously long time after my four hours on my feet otherwise there is just nothing left of my energy.
*sigh*
This is a far cry from the days of yore when I use to help with VBS in Cleburne Tx and then immediately leave to have fun with my cousins, followed by a swim practice.

I'm not sixteen anymore.

Shout Out, baby!

One of the saddest things about the thought of my children possibly growing up as 'Army Brats" ( hate that term)...is that they will not have the delight of having life long friends-people they've known since the first grade. I have had such a privilege and I gotta say it is a delight having those friends who saw you through your awkward phases, your bratty phases, and your too cool for school phases and then out and through the other side. Last year I got to attend my childhood BFF Amy's little sister, Emily's wedding...and I cried like a baby. Amy's family really is like my family and even though over the past few years my only interaction with Emily has been stalking her on facebook and reading her Mission Year blog, its been super cool to see the person she's turned into. Someone I'd totally be friends with today.

Annnnyway, all that to say, that Emily was able to come to one of my baby showers in Texas at the end of May and she made me the most adorable booties ever. And because superlatives are something I use a lot, and therefore you might not believe that they are the MOST ADORABLE...here's a picture to prove it:



See? Told ya! And if you'd like to inquire about getting Emily to make you some of these adorable baby shoes for a nominal fee...you should check out her cutsie blog....actually, you should just check out her blog anyway...

Time really got away from me there...

Its been a few days since I've blogged, and even though I don't have too much to share blogpost wise, it looks like I won't be going to sleep any time soon:

eating an ice cream cone at 9pm = very active baby. Brett could see him kicking me from across the room!!

So, I figured I might as well say something here.

Pregnancy update: I'm now 8 months pregnant and I feel very very large. I also feel sleepy and hot most of the time too. I have also started having dreams and freakouts that I'm going to go into premature labor-so you know, all in all, good fun is being had over here...

HOWEVER on a much happier note, my parents are coming into town this weekend...and bringing all my baby loot from my Texas baby showers with them! Considering I only got to see most of my gifts for a few seconds before they were passed off, I'm very excited about seeing it all again! :-) To prepare for their arrival Brett and Jaymon have put together all the baby furniture in the baby room...it was funny to listen to them from the other room working out how all the pieces went together-I'll have to post a picture or two once I get them onto my computer...

"Have you read all these?!"

Inevitably when people come into our home they comment about our bookshelves. And after they comment, they usually ask the question, "Have you read all these?!?"

And for some reason I'm surprised every time! To me, except when we're moving, the question is not do we have a lot of books but instead its-do we have enough books and the answer there is, "no". ( except when we're moving when the answer is we should go out and buy an ipad and get rid of all these heavy god-forsaken things...but luckily we don't move every day and that sentiment always goes away.)

And as for the question of have we read them all...that's pretty silly to me! I mean, WHY would you have books if you didn't read them?!

However, I do have to admit that Brett and I do purchase books in the hopes that we'll get a little time here and there to be able to pick it up and read it, and have yet to have that moment happen- and so my answer is that in a combined effort we've read about 80-90% of our books.... I have a shelf in the living room that has a section at one end that contains quite a few of the books that are on my "I want to read" list that is on the right-hand side of this blog...and after taking some time away from that list to read a stack of what I like to call my Estrogen Books ( Basically a whole bunch of pregnancy/baby/wife books), I have returned ( at least for a little while...before I have to start reading the "How to raise a child" books) that "I want to Read..." list.
And so, after about 7 months, I finally finished J.M. Barrie and the Lost Boys. I must admit that by the end I was pretty depressed ( lets just say there was a lot of dying happening...) but all in all I feel infinitely more educated on J.M. Barrie as an author and a man-and since I like to know where my favorite authors are "coming from" in their writing it was all in all a really good read...And now on to the next book on my list! What fun!

Wish List #2

Holy Moly!!! I wasn't planning on having two, "gosh I want one" posts in a row...but look at these cookie cutters!! I mean, SERIOUSLY LOOK!



You just change out the little letters in the press to change the message! HOW GREAT!

And of course it WOULD be William Sonoma to come up with these...

Wish List

I was going through some notes on my iphone ( I loooove being able to periodically "write" down titles of books that sound interesting or movies that need watching or websites that need visiting-so handy) and was reminded of this book. I think its one I need....

Mad Hungry: Feeding Men and Boys, by Lucinda Scala Quinn



>

We are blessed...

I have such a wonderful family and spending time with them this weekend was wonderful...if only it could be for longer periods of time....Here are a couple of my favorite shots from the weekend...

* And to those of you who are on facebook...there are about thirty more fabulous pictures posted there...*

Showered with the love

So, this past weekend was a whirlwind of fun as Brett and I headed to Texas for not only two baby showers in Ransom's honor, but we also got to see family that we hadn't seen in ages ( including Brett's oldest bro Tim and his wife Amber and their adorable kiddos who are in Texas for several months from Spain) and family that we'd NEVER seen before ( including two nieces....Trinity who's 8 months and Kilsyth who turned a month old while we were there). Needless to say we had a great time...and seriously the three days we were in Texas were waaay too short.

And now I'm sleeping like its going out of style, mostly because I literally can't keep my eyes open-but I was also inspired by my sister's sleep deprived state that maybe I should make the most of my last two months without a kid. Whew! This is going to be quite a ride!!

Sweet

Lately I've had the most intense sweet tooth ever. I blame being pregnant...but whatever the case, I'm pretty sure that even if I wasn't pregnant I know that I would still love the Snicker's Bar Dark.

Dark chocolate Snickers Bars?!? Yes please.

Go get one. You can thank me later.

Facebook Favor...

So, do me a favor...as part of my campaign of getting my mom and my sister set up with their very own facebook accounts so that I can be in EVEN BETTER TOUCH with both of them...I would like my own facebook friends to head on over to my facebook page and make a comment on my current status ( or you can comment here if you're too lazy for that), all I need you to say/agree to is that you really wish YOU could be facebook friends with my mom and sister too!!!

( if you don't know them, that's ok..this doesn't apply to you-unless you WANT to be facebook friends with them anyway...)

the ten o'clock headlines

Fair warning people, this post has no central point except that its all things that I want to talk about...

First of all, and least important, I watched the last episode of Lost yesterday and while I appreciated it on several levels for bringing people back together, satisfying my need for happy endings, and making me cry several bucket loads while sitting alone in my house in the middle of the day....I still am not entirely sure what happened or what the last four years of shows have been about. I'm hoping one of my smart friends will explain it to me some day soon....but until then, I must give the show major props for keeping me entertained for MOST of its four seasons.

And speaking of good plot lines, I have been getting phone calls and emails from friends and family over the last day or so to exclaim about the recent engagement announcement of my friends Paul and Lydia. For those of you who do not know Paul or Lydia, the reason for the extra excitement has been because of the CRAZINESS of their romance. In fact, its so dramatic and incredible it probably deserves its own blog post....but for the moment let me just say that Paul is a friend of mine from Texas and Lydia was my very first friend in New Zealand-they met at Brett and my wedding and did not see each other again until Paul sold all his possessions ( ok, probably not, but this is my story so that's how I'm telling it) and moved to New Zealand...where, only a few weeks later he proposed. Seriously people. You can't make this kind of romantic gold up!!
Let me just say that the wedding toast is writing itself here...

Ok next, my wonderful friend Katie who I met in Washington and now, sadly, lives in Kentucky just started up her very own photography business!! You really should head over to her website and check out some of the first pictures she's posted!

bummer

So, Brett and I are sitting on the couch watching Flight of the Concords when we hear this horrible crash...and come to find out the Graduation Verse Plaque that my home church in Texas gave me when I graduated high school had fallen off the wall and broken into a million tiny pieces of glass....

This is ridiculous since the plaque had ALREADY suffered water damage when I moved from Texas to Washington several years ago, and yet I had hung it up on the wall anyway...I mean, what are a few water marks when you can look at all the verses that each family in the church had lovingly picked out for you, right?!?

Anyway, I'm pretty bummed about it. I had to replace it with my upside down map of the world for the time being so that the giant blank spot on the wall in front of our bed would not bum me out even further.

*saaaaaad*

What's really important

Today I spent a long while working on Ransom's Baby Book....it has become VERY clear to me that I am not at all a crafty person, but lucky for me my baby book is quite cute and therefore can distract from my sad efforts, and I will also not loose sight of the fact that I'm having a son and I really doubt he'll care much about any cuteness scale in relations to this book...So, instead I'll focus on content-because I would like to think, whether boy or girl, people like to know where they came from and get a little "buried treasure" look at their life before they remember it...I have very fond memories of sitting with my parents reverently looking through my baby book, reading the stories my mom wrote about me, looking at pictures of myself...wow. Yeah. I was a TAD self-involved. hehe!
Annnyway, so in the hopes of making sure our child starts out on the right foot and stays grounded as he looks through his baby book, I will be including this picture:

Circa November 2009

A Fan Fan

And no I did not accidentally repeat a word just now. I'm actually a hug ol' fan of the box fan. That lulling sound of constant whirring?! TOTALLY puts me to sleep...which is a bad thing when you're trying to use the fan to just cool you down, NOT put you to sleep....
Which was me today.

Its currently 87 degrees outside and its about 68 degrees inside ( YESSSSS! THAT'S RIGHT! ARMY, YOU'RE PAYING FOR THIS ELECTRIC BILL, NOT ME!!) and yet I have still had two little melt downs today. Not of the physiological kind but the sweating kind.

I blame Ransom. He's like carrying an electric blanket around your middle. And yes, I DO realize its only going to get worse ( I'm not sure why people feel the need to remind me of this...)

And so I've plugged in the box fan and I am currently sitting directly in front of it on my swiss exercise ball ( also known as a "birthing ball" in hardcore maternity circles). And this is how I roll....( no pun intended) chillin in front of the fan.

Famous by Wilson standards

One thing I wasn't able to have at the Fancy Pants Apartment in Washington was my wall of pictures ( or wall of fame as I like to call it in my head), this was because the fancy pants people were against putting holes in the walls. ( laaaaame). But, now that we're here in a house that was built in the 1920s and has had many many holes put in its walls over the years, I was able to finally bring out the pictures once again.
I like having a mix of picture sizes and picture subjects-but for the most part I have tried to capture the people and places that make our life grand. Its a work in progress because so is our lives, and so new pictures are going up all the time. It never fails to make me happy to look up and see so many wonderful memories in one happy place.

Here's our dining room "Wall of Fame"

Bad fiction, life lessons

So, this was bound to happen. I blog for two days in a row and then the third day happens and I'm in a total funk. I personally like to blog when I'm in a GOOD mood ( either that or I like to blog when I'm in a self-righteous rage...because those rants are usually comic gold later on. But anyways). However, I am in in neither today.

But, since we're here and I made a "commitment" to writing and all...I figured I'd write something.

So, here's a little story for you. A little while ago I read some really ( seriously, really) bad Christian fiction that had been recommended to me by a dear friend. It was a series of books ( well, there were two, which I guess counts as a series these days) and I got through the first one only by shear will power. It was SO badly written and so cheesy that I felt continually insulted by the author. As though he was laughing at me as he wrote saying things like, "Mmmwwwhahha! Abigail will waste perfectly good hours of her perfectly good day in reading this particular book-I should make it EXTRA bad! I will add MORE superlatives and more cheesy predictable plot "twists"

Anyway, I finished that first book ( because I'm a FINISHER PEOPLE! THAT'S RIGHT!) and I was bemoaning to Brett about the second book that I was now going to have to read and he made the most amazing suggestion:
DON'T READ IT!!

And I said, "But, what if our friend asks me what I think?!?! I mean, should I tell her that I hated the first one SO MUCH that I didn't read the second one?!?! What will she think of me?!?"

And to prove his point ( that I should NOT base any friendship on bad fiction), Brett read the back of the second book aloud to me.

Now, its been a little while since I've looked at these books and to be totally honest I "lost them" in a move several moves back so I sadly cannot give you an exact quote...but here's the gist of what the little synopsis on the back cover said:

We rejoin our heroine, Rachel in her first year of marriage to the dashing ( add some other insipid descriptors here) Robert-however their married bliss is cut short when Robert looses his professorship at the university because of his faith ( does that even HAPPEN?) just when Rachel realizes that they are expecting their first child....( it went on for a while talking about the different troubles they face) and then here comes the CRUNCHER: the last line, the line that's suppose to hook me into reading the book...the big question that we want the author to answer by writing this book is..."WILL God provide for Rachel and Robert?! Read this harrowing book to find out!

Anyway...it was bad. And Brett and I sat on the couch for ages laughing at the line "WILL God provide?!" and whoever was the creative genius who thought THAT was a good cliff hanger! I mean, OBVIOUSLY God would provide and so...thankfully, I did not have to put myself through the torment of reading this bad piece of fiction-

But, one good thing came from all that....every so often when comic relief is needed Brett or I will bust out with a little "WILL God provide?!" in a good movie trailer voice. And then we laugh.

But you know what, sometimes, we as Christians DO seem to think that that is a legit cliffhanger for our lives! We start to actually wonder if, when we reach the final chapters, God will actually pull through. And yet, ultimately I should laugh. I should laugh when Brett and I both get furrowed brows in regards to our futures. And right now we're faced with a whole lot of whatifs and waitandsees. I feel like every day when Brett comes home from work he has more and more weight sitting on his shoulders as he gets closer to the end of his current course and faces a whole lot of uncertainty in the future. But, tonight as I sit here pondering it all I am reminded of that cheesy line and how I don't have to read the book to be certain of the answer for us. I know that at the end of the Brett and Abigail chapters there will be a big, "And God provided."

Button love

So, my totally talented and awesome friend Karissa designed a button for my blog! This way anyone who feel so inclined can have a cutiest link to my blog on their personal page or blog! YAY!

Here is Karissa's blog button:




And feel free to grab one of my cute new buttons over on the side bar!!

Morning Props

I've got to give a little shout out to Ruby Love Designs where I got my totally adorable Modern Baby Book. I fell in love as soon as I saw it, and thanks to my WONDERFUL grandfather-who let me pick out any baby book I wanted! I was able to get it!!

I gotta tell you I was really relieved when I came across these minimalist, yet stylish baby books because I had started to wonder if such a thing existed! It seemed that there were TONS of cute girly baby books out there but once you got to the boys section they were either waaaay to babyish or just UGLY.
But, Ruby Love Designs had SO many great choices and colors it was actually difficult for me to pick one! But, pick I did and once it arrived in the mail I have been itching to get started on it...

And so I got out my "fancy pens" and began the process of filling in some of the "pregnancy pages", you know the whole "When did Mommy tell Daddy that she was pregnant with you?" type things. It was fun filling it all in, fun until I made a tiny little mistake on one of the pages. At first I tried to convinced myself that it was no big deal, my child would understand, that such things would only happen with more and more frequency as he got older and so he should learn right away that his mother is ditzy....but I was starting to obsess over it and so I emailed Ruby Love Designs and asked if there was anyway I could purchase a replacement page. Now, the other great thing is that Ruby Love Designs actually makes all sorts of insert pages that you can get along the way if you find you need them...even "My time in the NICU" pages if you baby has to spend some time there. Or extra Baby Shower pages if you're having multiple showers. Pretty cool!
But, anyway, back to my silly dilemma. I got a response right away, and they are sending me a FREE replacement page because of my silly mistake. So, at least for the time being Ransom's baby book can go back to being "perfect". Just like the kind of mother I am....at least until he's born. ;-)

Check out this great little company if you get the chance....I'm totally sold!

A look on the inside ( sorry its blurry, my iphone didn't enjoy taking this picture...):

This week I've decided to blog every day. I use to do this all the time. I don't know what happened. Its not like I don't have the time! Sooooo, for lack of other feelings of productivity I will post something ( its value and content is not guaranteed) each day this week...or at least until Friday. Weekends I'm not so sure about...

This is mostly because the Bible study that we're involved with is for Airborne Students. Basically we get soldiers for three weeks-while they are in Airborne school and then they move on. It can be pretty exciting to see peoples lives change in a short amount of time, but its also challenging because you DO have such LIMITED time with these people! And you NEVER feel like you can take a week to slack off...because, its literally going to be one of your three chances with a person.
Annnyways, things are always a little fast paced but things are even MORE fast paced in the summer months because that's when we get TONS ( and i mean tons) of ROTC and Westpoint cadets who come to Airborne school during their summer break! This extra exciting for me because there are a lot more girls than we normally have...but it also means that when I normally am just supporting Brett in ministering to guys now we've got guys AND girls that we're trying to reach out to and love on! It got a little crazy at our house this weekend.

And of course, THIS would be the week that I'm suppose to share at Bible study! Why didn't I get to share on one of those weeks when we had like ten people total? Unlike last week when we had about forty. Meh. Scary! But, at the same time I've been excited to share what God has taught me over the last 6 months or so and I'm finally getting the opportunity so I should be happy I am getting to share it with so many....nope. I'm still a little nervous.

Midnight in the House of Good and Evil

There are some natural phenomenon that I have yet to understand or be able to explain even a little bit. And one such event is the "smoke detectors only run out of battery in the middle of the night."

Seriously, its a fact. I have yet to meet a smoke detector that went out in the middle of the day after a full nights sleep and maybe breakfast and some coffee...THEN the smoke detector starts doing its intermittent beeping routine to get your attention.

Nope, instead the smoke detector sits quietly in a yet to be discovered room and waits until you're settling into bed for the night. And juuuuuust when you're starting to drift off....BEEEEEP.....silence.
At first you think maybe you are crazy and you dreamed it, just go back to sleep Abigail it was noth-BEEEEEEEPPP!
OK, you definitely heard it this time. And so you sit up and you wait in the darkness for it to go off again.

And that's the other thing. There seems to be no pattern or rhyme or reason to the beeping. I mean, I understand the whole "program the smoke detector to beep when the battery runs down" business otherwise we'd all die in house fires ( or something), But I DO NOT understand the fact that the beeping will wait for many a long minute before beeping again. And then next time maybe it'll beep twice in the spain of two minutes ( just for the heck of it) and then be silent for 20 minutes. HONESTLY! WHY?!?!

So, this all happened last night, and Brett and I both got out of our ultra comfy bed and walked around the house trying to decern which smoke detector was the culprit. Finally it was decided that it must be the one in the hallway ( even though we hadn't caught it red handed just yet) since every time the beeping would go off while we were around one of the other detectors we KNEW it was coming from somewhere else.
So there was Brett...standing on a chair with a drill screwing the screws of out of our smoke detector, at midnight, me standing below him for moral support when Jaymon comes home.
Now, Jaymon is the Lieutenant who is living in our attic. He's a great guy who's desire to learn more about Jesus made him make the crazy decision to live with Brett and his crazy pregnant wife, in their attic. So yeah. Good guy.
And not to mention really funny. This guy has some serious comedic timing. In fact, Brett and I have decided that he is not unlike Kramar from Seinfeld because he has this habit of coming into the room with something random already coming out of his mouth...case in point:
Brett's on the chair, in the hallway maiming a smoke detector. Its after midnight.
Jaymon comes in...surveys the scene and instead of asking any of those inquiring minds would like to know type questions he busts out with, "Check out my new awesome linen pants!!! Whadda ya think?!!"
And then sticks out a leg all model-like so we can see....

You would have thought that Brett and I had waited up for him for the specific purpose of seeing his new pants and were just "killing time" by murdering a smoke detector while we waited.

Anyway, you probably had to be there to see the humor. Or you at least need to be sleep deprived and assulted by a smoke detectors beeping for an hour to FULLY see the absurdity in the situation. But just take my word for it. Jaymon's an interesting dude. He makes our lives infinitely more fun.

OK, so back to the smoke detector. Brett sufficiently killed the smoke detector in the hallway and I had gotten back in bed, and Brett had gone to the bath room....we had not heard the beeping for a good twenty-five minutes so we felt like we were safe again....but nooooo..

BEEEEP. *silence* BEEEEEEEEEP

For reals?!? The whole time we were destroying the hallway smoke detector ( which probably took a good 15 minutes to do) the TRUE culprit had waited patiently and in silence in the other bedroom. It then waited until we'd gotten down off the chair, admired Jaymon's linen pants, and put away the screw driver and drill, it then waited until I had climbed BACK into bed and Brett had gone into the bathroom...AND THEN IT GOES OFF.

Do not tell me that smoke detectors do not have brains and aren't vindictive for no reason, because I WILL NOT BELIEVE YOU.

The Big stuff

So this week has been super de-duper fast like in speed and I can hardly believe that tomorrow is Friday! Gah! And I totally planned on posting more this week! Who knows what happened?!

Anyways, on Monday I put all my "plans" for the day on hold and spent it with a friend who just had a baby two weeks ago. Lucky for me ( not so for her), she and her hubs are down to one car and she needed a ride to her two week baby doctors appointment. And then, because she's been literally trapped in her own home with a newborn for two weeks straight, we went out to lunch to celebrate her sons two pound weight gain ( yeah, I think he's thriving, all right! hehe). It was fun getting to hang out with her and wee little James, but also definitely mind blowing to think that I will be in her shoes in just three months! Whoooooa.

The rest of the week was filled with lots of little blessings like...we got a new chair for the living room ( and for those of you who love "the old chair" as much as I do, don't worry...we didn't get rid of it...its living in the baby's room now) that Brett and I randomly found at Target. I'll have to take a picture of the chair for you, but I really like it-mostly because Brett and I can both sit comfortably on it together. Albeit you have to really like the person you're sitting with, but my point is that its a BIG chair, and I like BIG chairs.
In fact, to make sure that the chair was big enough, Brett and I took it for a test run in the middle of the Target home section and a woman walked by and was like, "Wow, now THAT'S what I call a cheap date!" Which I gotta agree, it WAS sorta perfect...just sitting there....watching the shoppers go by....

After the arrival of the new chair things only got BETTER...when our BABY furniture arrived!! WOOO! My sweet sweet parents bought it for us, and I am SO excited about getting it all set up!! And by getting it all set up, I mean Brett getting it all set up...hahaha! His parental duties of putting together furniture and toys has only JUST begun...
Until we get OUR furniture set up, here's a picture of a fake baby room:


And THEN...to put a little cherry on top, our Washer and Dryer that we bought three weeks ago finally arrived. I didn't know that I could love an appliance ( other than my red kitchenaid mixer), but I gotta admit...I have a serious crush on this washer and dryer. Here's a picture I took with my phone while they were quietly getting two weeks worth of dirty clothes all beautiful and clean....

by 3rds

So, woo HOO! Third Trimester! Here we are!!

I gotta tell you, when I saw the little count down switch over from "2nd" to "3rd" it was met with mixed emotions. On one hand I'm like "YES!!! One step closer!!"
but on the other hand there are moments when I'm majorly freaked out about this whole "having a baby" thing.

Whatever the mood though, the thought process is surely interrupted by Ransom kicking me. Which is his new favorite thing to do. That or doing cartwheels in my stomach. He's a fan. A big fan.

In fact, last night I had my iphone perched on my stomach as a laid in bed. ( its quite the handy little shelf) And my phone literally JUMPED off my stomach. Thus, Brett and I spent a good twenty minutes just sitting and watching my phone jump around.
Good times, good times.

I did make a few mistakes this weekend that I SERIOUSLY paid for....number one was having MEGA spicy Thai food for dinner on Friday night, and then waking up on Saturday morning with an urge for a Starbucks latte ( this is pretty odd since I haven't really had starbucks since becoming pregnant) and even though I had a decaf-I suffered the serious acid reflux results of those culinary delights. UGG!

And so pregnancy passes....I'm sure one day I will look back on these moments with great nostalgia so I might as well enjoy the waddling while I can....

Normalcy

I'm such a big fan of things being in their place...which is why, so far, in the unpacking process the moment that made me THE most happy was organizing all of our various computer accouterments into an old shoe organizer that I have long since outgrown ( too many shoes...)

Cameras, ipods, odd cords, external harddrives...they all have their spot.

Here is a picture

Comedy of Errors. Mostly the errors part

So, I haven't blogged in a while-this has a lot to do with the whole "no internet" in our new house situation-which, while we GOT internet yesterday my router isn't working properly making wireless nearly impossible except RIGHT NEXT TO THE INTERNET MODEM. ( ummm...we don't call that "wireless" where I'm from). So yeah, need to work on that... apparently my Apple Airport Extreme has an expiration date that I didn't know about?!?

Annnyways, this was not the purpose of this post to expound on my current annoyances. NO! Instead it was to tell you what's been happening the last...ooooh a WEEK! First of all, my cold that I'd had for two weeks decided to try something new and went for FULL BLOWN SINUS INFECTION. Of course, this was awesome, perfect timing since I had tonzo to do last week in preparation for our move on Friday...and so, I admit, I probably let the thing go on a little too long. *sigh* It wasn't until Thursday that I called the doctor and complained and they told me to take Tylenol Cold and Sinus until Monday ( to see if it didn't get better)....ummm...yeah, we both knew that wasn't going to work, but I played along with the triage nurse and waited until Monday to call back literally BEGGING for an appointment. Sickness 3, Healthcare Providers 0

So, we moved...and for the most part our things came through the two moves they've been through in their current boxes without too much damage. Of course, we have literally NO furniture left that doesn't have SOME sort of scuff or scratch on it...but, such is the life of furniture that moves almost every year...and, so far the only MAJOR damage is the glass from the coffee table was broken in two. Bummer. Add a new coffee table to the list of things we need....
But, other than THAT...things like my beautiful beautiful red and white dishes...all beautifully intact! That's success! And really let's not forget how HAPPY I AM TO BE HERE WITH ALL OUR THINGS!!!!
And then, the air conditioner froze up! And then when it was defrozen it leaked water through the floor of our entry way!! AWESOME!
And by Sunday my "cold/sinus infection" had gotten so nasty that despite my best efforts I couldn't get out of bed...and so that's where I stayed, watching Season 8 of Friends on DVD, surrounded by boxes...while Brett spent literally all day doing ministry related things. House 0, Life 10.

This brings us right on into Monday and the most GIANT thunderstorm ever. But, I was not to be deterred by rain, NO SIREE!! I had THINGS TO DO! Like, I had to get groceries so we'd stop eating out, and I had to go to the doctor, and I had to get a plaque ordered for a guy who's retiring ( long story)....and, you wanna know the amazing thing?!?! Living on post is AWESOME! I got ALL those things done ( while getting soaked with rain each time), but in the most TIMELY MANNER EVER! It make SUCH a difference not living 30 miles away from everything!!! House 1, Life 1

And the BEST PART about Monday was that God answered some SERIOUS PRAYERS on my part, and Brett got off work early so that HE could drive me to Atlanta Airport ( two hours away) in the pouring down rain, to pick up Bethany...instead of ME having to do it all white knuckled and snotty. Seriously. Huge Blessing. God 50, Army 1, Life 0

Now, for the best part about last week ( other than the fact that I really do love our new home...and can tell that once I get everything 'sorted', I will be expounding my love even more.....no, the VERY BEST part about last week was that my sister had her baby girl! That's right!!! I'm an aunt again! And I gotta tell you, I'm totally in love with her even though she's all the way over in stupid Texas ( stupid because its not next door)....and I'm SO GLAD my sister had to go through this whole "giving birth" and "living through the first week" thing before me. Honestly, there's a reason why I was the second born and not the first born and GOD KNEW I needed Anna to go first in all these life changing things. ;-)

So, I'll leave this post of messiness with something truly great:
Kilsyth ( pronounce "Kil-syth ( like the Syth Lord from Starwars), Jane ( after my grandmother), Middlebrook....who's iphone pictures have gotten me through the messiest parts of this past week....like this one, HOW AWESOME!

Vicious cycle

So, TEN DAYS AGO I got a cold...and I thought it was getting better, and then last night I woke up several times with a flamin sore throat and have spent all day feeling crappier than I have in a while.

BLAH.

I honestly don't really know what to do other than take vitamins-since there are NO cold medicines that I can take while being pregnant. Which is super stinky. I guess this is making up for six months without being sick, huh?!

BUT WHAT BAD TIMING!!!

Here it is a time when I need to be at my most physical ( imagine me walking up and down flights of stairs multiple times a day, carrying things from our current home to our new house)...and I feel down right puny. GAH!

I suppose this is teaching me patience, because I suppose there is really no REAL rush in getting everything moved in by Friday. I mean, it won't be HORRIBLE if I find myself spending all weekend doing all these things.

But, honestly my to-do lists are haunting me.

And so...so, I strive to keep things in perspective.

Read this in my time with God this morning:
"But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me." Ps 49:15

The renters clause

So, Brett and I are the proud "renters" of a Fort Benning house.....for anyone that's read this blog over the last few months, I KNOW I do not have to tell you how happy I am about this!!
No more driving an eternity to get to civilization, no more DEADZONE for my iphone, and not to mention the all important see ALL OUR BELONGINGS AGAIN! My dishes! My picture frames! My artwork! My bedding!! YAY!

Anyway...

Here's the deal though. The decision to live in someone elses house with someone elses stuff, running a heavy open door policy for any soldier or soldier family/friend member that needs to come and stay, plus getting some up-close and personal observation of the Woods ( who's house and stuff and ministry we were sitting on top of) has been such a learning experience for me. Sadly most of the lessons I have learned have not been how to do ministry better, or techniques in being a better witness of Christs love or anything nice like that ( although that does come into play) instead pretty much every lesson I've learned has been about how selfish and how stuck in my ways I am.

Soon after we moved in I read Luke 9:57-62, which incidentally is entitled "The Cost of Following Jesus" in my Bible and it talks about these three different characters who have different excuses for not following after Jesus. And the irony here is that I actually taught a lesson on these verses when I was living at Fort Lewis. HA! Apparently I needed to listen to my own cautionary tale because it became very very clear to me over the six months that we've lived in this house that while "The son of man has no where to lay his head" ( v. 58), I pretty much ASSUMED that God was going to give me a sweet pad with all sorts of personal space....WRONG. Basically, I thought that I was a sold out little follower of Jesus but apparently that "sold out"-ness had a lot of clauses attached.

And so, over the past 6 months I've been slowly whittling away at my clauses.

I am writing this now, a week before we move ( we aren't getting our belongings until the next of next week so we'll be here one more week before officially moving), because I feel certain that I will need to learn these lessons again...why? Because I've been on a constant learning-cycle-rinse-repeat for SIX MONTHS and I feel like I've only barely gotten them through my thick skull. And I know, that there will be all sorts of new uncomfortable situations in our future. Because uncomfortable is what we've signed up for- That was the big following Jesus clause that was right up there in big red letters.

What's in a name?

So the story of how Baby Hiphopopatomus's name came to be started so long ago that Brett and I can not remember who exactly mentioned it first. Which is really the best way to come up with a name. In some ways it makes me feel like there was no question about it, since all other names that were discussed ended up just being "back ups" no matter how we looked at it.
And so, while we still have not decided on his middle name, Ransom has been his first name in my mind before he even really existed.

I do remember talking about the name while Brett was in Afghanistan. We first and foremost loved it because it was a constant reminder that Christ paid the ransom for our sins when He died on the cross-that each and every one of us was bought and paid for-when we didn't do anything to deserve it. In fact, the hymn that we had the congregation sing at our wedding ( How Deep the Father's Love for Us) has the line, "His wounds have paid my ransom." So you could say the name has been on our hearts from the very beginning.

And then there was the icing on the cake. Which is really for my literary following, if you haven't read C.S. Lewis's Science Fiction trilogy ( aptly called The Space Trilogy or Ransom Trilogy ) you should go get your hands on a copy of "Out of the Silent Planet" RIGHT NOW! These books are wonderful, as really all of C.S. Lewis's books are and so the fact that his Hero is also named Ransom...well, that seemed fitting since Brett and I first bonded over our love for C.S. Lewis and Tolkien ( our child should feel lucky his name is not going to be Aragorn or something! haha! ). And so, really, there was never much of a question...no other name fit quite as well, and that is the story of why.

It has been hard telling people the name because a lot of people have obviously turned up their noses...which, for the record, I suppose I understand. It is definitely not a conventional name, but since Brett and I are both lovers of words it was almost impossible for us to have a name that didn't have special meaning to us personally...and so we have, for the most part, ignored the looks of disapproving. And I hope that one day our son will hear the story of his name, and he'll love it as much as we do. It is my prayer, that just as his name tells a story of Christ's love for us, so will the life that our son lives.

So, there you go, the story of the name!

breaking the pattern

So, I made it 26 weeks without getting any kind of cold or flu or anything which is pretty incredible considering that I went through the fall and all of the winter, everyone around me was dropping like flies and yet I didn't get sick! It was awesome, and then I was making dinner last night and my throat started to hurt and it didn't take long for my nose to start to run and ta-da! I have a cold!!!

I literally walked around in a haze today. I ran several errands where I would go into the store, wander around and come out with nothing.

Just in time for this evening when we had four guys over for dinner ( that's not counting the three that are currently living with us), all total I was feeding 8 guys! So, anyway, I figure that if I can do that with a serious head cold than I assume I can some how take care of a baby on little to no sleep....well, actually, no. I'm still not so sure! haha!

Abigail's version of "Nesting"

So, its come to this. I'm finally coming up on my third Trimester. ROCK ON. And I have just gone ahead and given in to my Nesting desires. I mean, sure, I don't really have any place to actually make said "nest", but thank goodness we live in the modern age. The age of computers. The age of websites. The age of bookmarks.
Which brings me to my new favorite indulgence. It is SO much better than looking at magazines or making clippings from catalogues ( which is what we all did in the olden days), now I just click up on my toolbar where it says "bookmark" and I place all the things I want for my "nest" inside. In fact, really, its even better than a REAL LIVE nest ( sorta, or at least that's what I'm telling myself) because I don't actually have to PAY for any of it! YAY!

And now I'm going to force my nesting upon you like a person would force a slide show of boring vacation pictures on you at a dinner party ( which, incidentally has now been translated into the seemingly innocent "facebook photo album")

Without further ado my Nesting Wish list:

I would like this for my "new" spare bedroom that I do not actually have...


Its a "wrought iron headboard wall decal" from Mina Javid, how fun is the idea of having wall art instead of an actual headboard?!

Since our "new" house will have wood floors ( this is actually a true fact, we just don't actually live there yet), I would like this for our living room floor:



Martha Stewart has come up with these super cool tile rugs ( 19.7" x 19.7") that you can then put together for your own custom rug. Sweet.



OK, so this next one is for the "new baby" room that will one day exist...and you guys can totally help me with this one!



I got this picture off of HGTV's website of Beautiful Baby Rooms and I was immediately captivated by the idea of having a model of the solar system as a mobile for the baby room! For one thing, the planets kind of have special significance to little Hiphopopotamus's name ( post coming soon) and for another it just seems like a cool alternative to all the "babyish" mobiles I've seen around...Incidentally, I also like the idea of securing buckets on the wall as a cool place to store toys and stuffed animals.

Ok, so on to the next one is another "new baby" room item that I'm just dying to have:



These totally cute Garlands can be found at Mahar Drygoods, with a whole bunch of other really fun products that if I was at all crafty I could probably make myself...but I'm not and so I'm stuck just wishing I could buy them...alas, the garland I want is out of stock :-( ...But maybe I could commission one of my fabulous crafty friends to make them for me, hmmmmm?! I'll pay well I promise!

This last one just seems like something fun to have, though I'm not sure exactly where in the house I'd put it ( but isn't that half the fun? Finding a place for something?)



I found this tray and stand at westelm. com


So there you have it, folks! My nesting wish list...seriously, its almost as satisfying as actually setting up a house!
So what's on your imaginary wish list?

Head on down to the nearest desert

So, I don't know if you've noticed but there are is a major geographical theme happening in the Bible. Now, its a pretty obvious one just because of where most of the Bible takes place, but for the purposes of this post I like to forget about the practical reason for all the deserts ( not to be confused with desserts...man, that one extra "s" and you've got a completely different feeling! But I digress) and instead focus on the application reason for all of them...I mean, think about it! How many hardcore biblical characters wandered around in deserts...without even looking at my bible I'm going to list a few: Abraham, Hagar, Moses, ( ALL the Children of Israel) Elijah, David, John the Baptist...there are a ton. And it always seems like a lot of learning happens out in the desert, doesn't it? This is beyond encouraging on so many levels, but, while I was doing my Sit Down with Jesus a few days ago, I was struck by a brand new 'desert' moment, here it is:

"And an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Rise and go toward the South to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. This is a desert place. And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch...He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning, seated in his chariot, reading the prophet Isaiah..." Acts 8:26-39

Now, I totally stopped quoting there, but if you're not familiar with this story, or haven't read it in a while go to the book of Acts in your Bible and finish it up...but for now take a little look see and check out what smacked me in the face:
THIS IS A DESERT PLACE.

Umm..yeah, for a little background, up until this point the book of Acts its pretty much stock full of CROWDS of people. I mean, after Jesus died on the Cross the disciples had their HANDS FULL with all the witnessing and the saving people and the growing of the Church. Everywhere you look there are literally THOUSANDS of people being saved and following Christ! Its pretty incredible. And then we get to this little incident. Where the Lord tells Philip ( who was probably use to the crowds and the major evangelistic moments by this time) and he tells him to head off to this certain location. Which, oh yeah, P.S. its a DESERT.
I wonder what Philip thought about that. I wonder if he wondered if the Lord was maybe a little off in his GPS. I mean, there was a lot of work to be done in the cities and villages! There were hundreds of thousands to be told about Christ! I mean, the harvest was just RIPE for the picking! But, instead he's sent off to the desert. Which is where the word "deserted" comes from. ( How could the Lord POSSIBLY have anything good happen out there?!?)
And yet, in this barren waste land of a spot, on this little road "in between" there was ONE GUY who was in need of instruction.
JUST ONE GUY!

I think sometimes God sends us to Desert places. And sometimes he even interrupts us in the middle of doing "his business" in some busy locale and tells us to head off to that deserted spot. He seemingly stops "all the amazing work" that we're doing and tells us to go somewhere quiet, somewhere slow, somewhere where nothing ever seems to happen.....and yet, I guarantee He has a reason!
I don't know where you're located right now...if you're in the "busy city" of Jerusalem of your life or if maybe you're in the "desert road" that's outside-but let me assure you, there is a reason for both! There just might be just one person that's out there in the desert who needs your company, or maybe there is something out there that you need to see, but whatever the case when the Lord tells you to head into the desert, do what Philip did...arise. You'll find something good there. Promise.

And now for des(s)ert!

Around the corner

I realize its been days and days since I've posted anything-but if you knew the lovely pregnancy symptoms I'm dealing with you'd forgive. I'm pretty sure.

Annnnnd. I'll leave it at that.

So, the Navigator Conference this weekend was great. On several levels. On the superficial level, the hotel did not disappoint. It was fancy ( comfy beds! comfy beds!) and the service was outstanding and the food was yummy and just kept coming and coming...which was lucky, because I needed all that food to translate into energy for all of the catching up with people I had to do between all the really amazing speakers and workshops. Conferences are usually not my favorite thing ( I'm not gonna lie) because by nature I'm a rebel and so normally to be in rooms filled with OTHER people that are excited about the same things I'm excited about and doing the same things I'm doing I get all huffy and pouty and wonder why everyone is doing what I'm doing...except in this case. In the case of serving our military branches....then I'm pretty happy about all the other people there being just as pumped and just as willing to bring the gospel to people in ALL walks of life. Seriously its pretty close to heaven.

And now I'm home. Home as it is at the moment. We put ourselves on the waiting list to get a house on Fort Benning about a month ago now...and, well, nothings happened. I've tried to just not think about it and to just be "in the moment" here...but its HARD. I'm such a planner and so you can imagine that I've practically decided where every book, every dish, every piece of furniture is going to go...and then Brett lets me down easy by telling me it may not be until June that we get a place. JUNE! (!!!) Does anyone else know how far away June is?! But you know what even though I've been told that, I still have this sense of expectancy almost every day. This sense that surely not, God! Surely we'll get a call today that a place has opened up...
Do you ever have a sense of expectancy even when all the signs are pointing to "no"? Sometimes I think its important...

Wherein I do NOT talk about food...

So, my good friend Lindsay did a little calculations today and took note that of my 12 lasts posts, six of them are about food. hahaha!!!

I guess this proves that my fears that I would "never ever like food again" were greatly unfounded. Greatly. But seriously, that's how I felt! Its amazing how quickly one forgets how AWFUL morning sickness is...I guess this is why we are not all only children.

Annnyways, my topic for tonight is NOT pregnancy related ( and the townsfolk all rejoiced!) its about my weekend plans! Brett and I had a nice "restful" weekend last weekend ( i.e. we didn't travel anywhere) and now we're off again!! This time to the All Military Navigator Ministry Conference in Colorado! I'm excited for several reasons, first I'm going to get some MUCH needed fellowship time in with some of my bestest friends from Washington, secondly there are some SUPER COOL speakers and workshops that I get to attend and thirdly I know there will be ton of unexpected great times mixed in for good measure....such as the fact that this conference is being held in a nice hotel where I HEAR they have excellent beds. I cannot WAIT to sleep in an excellent bed. And those little tiny bottles of shampoo...I love those. Hotels. I'm a big fan.

So! There you go! I'll be back on Monday, if not sooner to tell you how it all goes down!

The olden days ( I'm assuming)

I'm not quite sure what life was back in the "olden days" but I do know that without my computer and without Brett ( he was using said computer to finish writing a paper), I am pretty bored. And so I decided the only reasonable thing to do was to make Banana Bread.

I've never made Banana Bread because it had "bread" in the title and I always assumed that bread was hard to make. But, then I came across a recipe on Simplyrecipes.com that actually used phrases like, "no mixer necessary" and "simple but perfect"....so I decided that even *I* could make it. And I was right!! It was easy and super yummy...and SCORE I used our almost gone bad bananas too!



( Gosh, I wish I could take prettier pictures of food...)

Anyways, here's the very simple recipe if you want to make Banana Bread too...


INGREDIENTS
3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed
1/3 cup melted butter
1 cup sugar (can easily reduce to 3/4 cup)
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
( I also sprinkled in some cinnamon for good measure)
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

METHOD
No need for a mixer for this recipe. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). With a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour last, mix. Pour mixture into a buttered 4x8 inch loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour. Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve.

A rebel's drink

Today was one of those days where things were made much better by being taken out for Pizza by my wonderful husband, and then finding a packet of Black Cherry Koolaid hidden in a back cabinet of the kitchen. SCORE.

I'm now drinking the drink that takes me directly back to two different times in my life. One being any birthday party growing up. We didn't have Koolaid on a regular basis at the Abt House...but I pretty much sported a red mustache at every birthday party I went to or had from the age of 4 to the age of 10. I'm feeling the sugar high as I write, but at the same time its just not as satisfying when you've had to personally stir the sugar into the water...it really SHOWS you just HOW much sugar you're drinking!! I prefer the ignorance of youth. Though I am thankful for the experience of age, I'm drinking this koolaid with a straw ( no mustache for me!).

The other major Koolaid memory would be visiting my sister when she was living on her own during college ( shout out to Stacey here.)...being the total rebel that she was, after moving out of the Abt House she drank Koolaid any time she wanted. Since I was only in my early teens at the time, and a loooong way from getting those kind of koolaid privileges of myself, I was totally jealous of her "grown up-ness". She got to eat Mac & Cheese any time she wanted and any kind of sugary cereal that she felt like buying. Which, as we all know, is the reason that we all grow up. She was so cool. ( She still is)

Cheated

So, Georgia straight up cheated me out of my favorite temperature. 70 to 75 degrees is, as we all know, the perfect set of temperatures. And Georgia just decided to skip right on over from 60 ( too cold)...to 90 ( too crazy pills HOT). Which is why I bought a swimsuit today. Not a "hang out by the pool and catch some rays" swimsuit...because that would be WRONG on several levels. 1. The rays would kill me because those rays are like FIRE. and 2. I'm basically a beached whale. And no one wants to see that lying next to their pool...for one thing, they'd just start throwing water on me and pushing me towards the waters edge in the hopes of saving one of Earth's most magnificent creatures. Then everyone would just be embarrassed.

Anyways, the swimsuit I bought was for "hardcore swimming" purposes. Let's all take a stroll down memory lane and remember when swimming was literally my life ( up until I graduated highschool). Those were some nice years and the smell of chlorine still makes me terribly happy. But, that time in my life passed. And for some reason I have been hesitant to take up swimming as a full time form of exercise ever since. ( Wait, that's a lie. I do know the reason. Because most of the "free" pools that are available to me are only open for lap swimming at times that Abigail Is Never Ever Awake and Active.) Buuut, according to my sources, here at Fort Benning there are many pools for me to choose from and I can lap swim to my hearts content. This is important because, lets go back to the whole temperature thing. I had to do my "exercising" at 7:30pm last night because that was the first time that I stepped out side and didn't start sweating immediately. And so I bought a giant swimsuit ( we'll see how long it lasts me.) in the hopes that I will be able to continue to exercise through my third trimester.

I'll let you know how this goes....

Hot Cross Buns! Hot Cross Buns!!

I continued my tradition of making Hot Cross Buns for the second year in a row ( in the Abt family, if you did something once and it was fun, it could immediately become a tradition...and so, last year, when making Hot Cross Buns and they didn't turn out a total failure and people actually ate them-I decided, "And Lo it shall be a Tradition of Easter Proportions" So when Easter came around this year, and I was living in a house without my standup mixer ( and the all important dough hook) I went so far as to borrow one from a neighbor because IT WAS A TRADITION. AND YOU DON'T MESS WITH TRADITION.

I used Martha's recipe that you can find here...but I did NOT use raisins ( ew!) but doubled the dried cherries ( yessss!) and I also do not believe in making my own icing unless absolutely forced and I'm here to tell you that scooping a tub of Duncan Hines vanilla icing into a bag and then piping is JUST AS GOOD.

Another two bite the dust

So, last year I wrote a blog post that you can read here
that gives you a little run down of the applications that I use on my iphone on a daily/weekly/never basis.

And then this last week my sister and Tabitha both got iphones. Talking to both of them several times about their new toys has reminded me of just how wonderful my iphone is...in fact, SIDE NOTE:

The first moment that I can pinpoint as a moment when I was definitely acting pregnant, but we just didn't know I was pregnant yet was when we had just moved to Alabama (*sigh*) and realized that my phone did not work in the house ( or even on our street), so we went to the AT&T store to see if they had some sort of booster or something and sadly they said that yes, they do have boosters but they wouldn't work were we live ( A DEADZONE). So we go out to the car and we're sitting there, and Brett turns to me and says, "So, how important is having an iphone to you?"-or something like that...it may have even been "Do you mind getting a different phone?" Or who knows...but it doesn't matter what he said, because in my mind it translated into THIS IS THE END OF THE WORLD.
And so I burst into tears and sobbed. That's right, I sobbed. Over an iphone.

And bless his heart Brett did not check me into a mental institution right then and there. In fact, he was super nice about it...haha! And, well, I still have my iphone, I just can't actually USE the phone part when I'm in our house....so that just shows just HOW much of a stink I made about it. And also, it shows how much I love my phone ( hormones and irrationality aside).

OK, so without further ado here are some changes from that last post that I wrote about my applications. I still use Pandora all the time. And it really IS like having free satellite radio in your car. But, here are some other winners.

Facebook ( free). I know I said I hated it. But they've definitely improved. And while the computer version is much better. Its good in a pinch.

Readello ( free). This syncs with my googlereader so I can easily access my blog rolls when I'm away from my computer. AWESOME.

iflipr.( $3.99) I use this to memorize my bible verses for the week, but there are also like a MILLION other flashcards you can download for free and learn. SO EDUCATIONAL ;-)

Imdb ( free). Yes, they've made an application for this terrribly useful website that will then answer all your disputes with friends, spouses and yourself regarding who the actor is that played in that unnamed 1987 film that started with an "E"....seriously, this app quickly and easily solves all sorts of mindbinders for me.

Allrecipes.com ( I got the free version), the little brother of its counterpart website-you can easily access your own account ( therefore any recipes you've collected) or look up new ones...WHILE YOU'RE IN THE STORE. Fabulous.

E!Online ( free). Ahem. I hate to admit that I care a lot about celebrity gossip. Because I DON'T...but every so often you have a free moment and you really want to know how those Kardashian sisters are getting along. This app is for you.

Starbucks ( free) This one is really only useful when traveling. But then its WONDERFUL. It'll track where you are and then tell you where the nearest starbucks is...this has saved Brett ( since I'm currently not drinking coffee) from near breakdown several times.

Now for the really important one...that if you download it I want you to contact me IMMEDIATELY. Its called "Words with Friends" ( get the free version) and it allows you to play scrabble with anyone else who has the app too! So, go sign up today!! get yourself a little user name and then look me up ( Abigailsday) and then we can play scrabble together from ANYWHERE!!! HOW WONDERFUL WILL THAT BE?!?! ( Also, for those of you who are skeptics this is easier than real scrabble because it catches you if you use a nonexistent word and just doesn't let you play it...meaning if you can't think of a word just start putting letters together...you may get lucky and create a word you didn't even know existed. Like Brett did. Last night. With the word "forb" for 31 points. I mean, really?!? FORB?!?! ( but it is a word...I looked it up. )

Anyway. I look forward to your comments of any new, awesome apps that I absolutely NEED to get. ( Also, let me know when you're on Words with Friends so we can start playing ;-) )