We Love Summer!

Tony and I have had a fabulous summer! It's gone really, super fast (as always), but we've never been more eager for September, so it's less sad than usual to say goodbye to the sweet days of summer. I rarely post pictures on this blog which makes it so boring I realize. So...I'm going to capture pieces of our summer in pictures to remind myself of an amazingly fun summer with my hubby. Our last summer without a child in tow - oh my!

I got an iPhone for my bday! woo-hoo! Tony got an iPad. We're feeling pretty techy!

We ADORE our nephew Jimmy! We don't see the boy near enough. 

Our anniversary date - ended with a trip to Target. We practiced carting baby cargo around. And we enjoyed celebrating 4 years of marital bliss. What a blessing!

These are totally out of order, but this is such a fun picture. I'm 28 weeks and my best friend Jessi is at 39 weeks - oh my! You'll see her precious baby below.

Tony and I are both at 28 weeks here - he's looking great, ain't he? We spent July 4th in Davenport celebrating with the Meyers. 

And then baby Noah arrived on July 12th. We were so excited to go and meet him!

NEPHSTER!! Jimmy was the ring bearer for Megan & Jeremy's wedding. I love his Jordan socks!

I hate to brag....but...my hubby WON the Celebrate Washington 3-on-3 basketball tournament* and the free throw contest. I married such a stud! His trophy is proudly displayed in our entryway. 

We had a really fun evening with my family at the Van Hemerts in Pella when...

Kelsey & Kerry got engaged!!! Kerry had us all come to Pella to surprise Kelsey. What a special night!

Ok, talk about random. My next post will be AWESOME...just wait!!! It's about our supercalafragalisticexpealidocious vacation!

*There was only one other team in the tourney. Ha! Tony really is a stinkin good athlete though. We're hoping baby girl gets his skills!

Adios!

There is No Secret

I love remembering my Wedding Day. I love considering the incredible grace and goodness of God to intersect my life with Tony's life. I love when God brings to mind the prayers I prayed for my future husband while I spent my summer at age 16 at Pine Lake Camp. I love knowing that during that same time Tony came to know the Jesus as His Savior - and it would be years before I met him! I love loving a God who is a miracle worker!

One of the songs sang at our wedding was "A Page is Turned" by Bebo Norman.

The first verse talks about a young boy saying, "But as his story is told and the storybook unfolds, he finds salvation, but not at the hands of man." I shed tears every time I hear that line. I shed tears every time I heard it for months leading up to our wedding. God always had His hand on Tony's life and worked miracles to make Tony the man of God He is. I love hearing Tony's life story and seeing the fingerprints of God all along the way preparing Him for ministry. God was also preparing him to be an incredible husband! Another line in the song talks about how God prepares the man for the woman - "And all this time preparing her the one to hold her up when she comes undone." I am on the receiving end of such blessing because of God's work in Tony's life!

Tony and I will soon celebrate our 4th anniversary! The last four years have been unbelievably amazing! We have so much fun as husband and wife. In the midst of the fun, life has hurt terribly, we've experienced tremendous loss and pain, we've been confused and extremely discouraged, but God's great gift of marriage has remained one of the biggest blessings in our lives! We love life together! We are continually challenged and inspired by one another to love Jesus more! Marriage is so good. And there is "No secret to the source of this much life."

The last verse in the song goes like this...
A page is turned in this life, he's making her his wife
And there is no secret to the source of this much life
When the grace that falls like rain is washing them again
Just a chance to somehow rise above this land

With Jesus at the Center, marriage works. We mess up big time. We each fall prey to our sinful desires and remove Jesus from His proper place at the center of our lives and our marriage. As two sinful humans, there's no way to experience this goodness on our own, but God's grace gives our marriage life. Following God's design for marriage is so good. His blessings abound. There's no secret to the joy of our marriage - it's all Jesus! Thank you Jesus!

Preparing for Baby

In around 16 weeks we'll be welcoming a baby girl to this crazy life! Last night we decided it was time to start making some serious preparations for her arrival. We have not yet taken a lamaze class, we have not yet read Baby Wise, and we've given very little (Cari) to no (Tony) thought to a nursery. However, we are now completely familiar and entirely unimpressed with the selection of baby/little girl toys in the Wal-Mart toy aisles. During our Wal-Mart run last night, my toy-loving husband felt it would be worthwhile to scope out the selection.

First of all, let me say - i don't really like toys. The fewer toys that have to be in our house, the better. (Easy for me to say now, huh?) Second, my poor house is already full of my husband's toys. Maybe they'll like the same toys, that would be convenient. We'll be set if this little one loves nerf guns, airsoft guns and basketballs/soccer balls/footballs/nerf balls/tennis balls/etc.

We started our toy research in the Bike aisle where they have those super cool, super expensive electric toy cars. Neither of us had one as a child and I think we're both still feeling a little burned by that. Ok, not really, but how cool would it be for a kid to get to drive around in one? The bummer is that every girl car is plastered in Disney's princesses.* They can't simply be painted pink and purple, they have to have "Princess" written all over them. We decided she'd have to go with the John Deere Gator. (*I don't mean to imply there's anything wrong with Disney's princesses, just never been my thing.)

Next, we ventured down the girl toy aisle. The aisle started out with these incredibly freaky looking dolls that looked like barbies but weren't and were dressed in scandalous lingerie....cool! Next were the Bratz dolls...cool! (I really hope my sarcasm is clear here.) Then came the Barbies...ok, barbies really can be kind of cool .I sort of liked them as a little girl. Across the aisle were the baby dolls - i loved baby dolls as a little girl! I kid you not, at one point we each had a baby doll cradled in our arms while we gave her her pacifier and listened to her make baby noises while opening and shutting her eyes. Then we looked at each other and realized what we were doing and quickly returned the dolls to the shelves. I think we're getting a little excited for baby's arrival! :)

Our baby preparation outing last night left both of us feeling much better prepared for our baby's arrival. The most important things we learned: don't waste time at Wal-Mart and a bunch of crazies design girls' toys. We are one step closer to being great parents!

Richard Simmons Visits FBC

Can you believe it?!?! Richard Simmons himself in Washington Iowa. If you've paid a visit to the Faith Baptist Church gym the past few Sunday mornings, you've had the privilege of watching Richard in all his glory leading an exercise/dance/music class. It's a sight to see! It's a new ministry model we're trying - Sunday School/Dance/Exercise/Richard - we think it's going to be a huge hit. jk.

Actually, the junior high students in this particular Sunday School class have no idea who Richard Simmons is. It's just that I cannot stop thinking of those 80s exercise tapes as I watch Tony teach these students the songs for Vacation Bible School.* It's not because Tony's wearing a leotard. It's not because he's grown his hair out into a fro. And it's not because the music sounds like its from the 80s. It's just that Tony is hysterically funny and goes all out with his goofiness and boundless energy as he helps these students get excited about serving at VBS.

This year our junior high students are leading the Opening and Closing sessions for VBS and Tony is gracious enough to lead them in that responsibility. He is crazy talented at working with students! He's made it a blast for them to learn childish songs, all the while setting an incredible example to them of the pure enthusiasm you need when serving children. It's an amazing sight- he's got 7th/8th/9th graders dancing their hearts out to silly VBS songs so that the kids @ VBS next week will feel God's love through adults and students that care enough to join them in learning at their level.

I wish I could capture Tony's heart and attitude and put it into words, but as these last few paragraphs have shown, my words just aren't adequate. For heaven's sake, here I am comparing him to Richard Simmons.

*You may be wondering why in the world I ever watched Richard Simmons' exercise videos. I'm really not sure. I think my Aunt Karen had them. I spent some of my elementary days a little on the pudgy side, so maybe my Mom kindly invited me to spend an hour with Richard every once in awhile. I really don't remember. Unfortunately, those ugly images are scarred in my memory forever.

Who Needs Justin Bieber?

Not me...I've caught a different kind of fever. I guess you could call it the Widdel Fever. That doesn't have quite the same ring to it, but that's not the point. Tonight my husband serenaded me with a little "Never Say Never" and "Baby." Yep, I'm that lucky. Married to a man whose singing and guitar playing could put Justin Bieber to shame any day. In fact, even the baby in my belly couldn't help but dance a little to Daddy's Bieber tunes. If you pay any attention to the words, they aren't quite fitting for our circumstances. Ok... not at all fitting, but you have to admit the teenage rockstar's songs are pretty fun.

At about 3:00 this afternoon Tony called to let me know he was taking me shopping and out to dinner tonight. He said he needed to "spoil" me and would explain later. I had plans for a meeting, but he was making the phone call to cancel that meeting so we could be together. I had spent the morning and afternoon with my Mom and sister, so I was already feeling spoiled. Mom even got to join me at my doctor's appointment and they did an ultrasound just for her so she could see her grandbaby! Very fun!

Tony came home at about 4:30 to pick me up. He grabbed his guitar and told me he was about to "set the mood" for the evening, that's where the serenading came in. He's
so stinkin' funny! I can imagine him sitting in his office this afternoon practicing his Justin Bieber sounds...awesome. That's the kind of thing I love about youth pastors. After the mood was set, we left for Williamsburg where I was treated to some shopping.

Tony insisted it was against the rules to shop for the baby. This trip was only about buying some fun new stuff for me. I did not deserve that and felt rather guilty about it, but Tony was adamant that this was the way he wanted to let me know just how important I am to him. It was fun and I got some great deals! I avoided maternity clothes...as I'm trying so hard to do. They're just so awful looking. I know eventually I'll need them desperately, but it's really hard to want to spend money on them.

We left the mall and headed for Texas Roadhouse where we ingested thousands of calories in rolls and cinnamon butter. I chose not to stop after the rolls and caesar salad, and continued on to finish off a steak and mashed potatoes. Tony's steak came home with us in a to-go box. I don't like being the big eater, but that's been the trend around here lately.

I know it must appear that all Tony and I do is spend time together and enjoy one another. We do spend a LOT of time together and we thank God for the precious opportunity to be together so often. However, since most of that time is spent working it sometimes feels like it's been a long time since we've connected. We've been together the last two weekends, doing lots of ministry along the way. We've been together most evenings...sitting in meetings and serving alongside one another in programs. We've even been together most afternoons, but those afternoons are focused on the work of the church. Please don't misunderstand and think I'm griping, I rejoice in this amazing season of life in which God has allowed us to work side by side.

During this season we've come to realize that since we are together often, it's easy to forget that it's been a long time since we've talked about anything besides the ministry of the church. We've learned we must be more proactive in setting some time aside to be husband and wife, and not just Youth Pastor and Children's Director. Tonight was a wife and husband kinda night...and I'm thankful and feeling refreshed.

I have the best husband ever, just sayin'. Did I mention that he ended the evening with another round of "Never Say Never" and "Baby"?? Yep, I've got some serious Widdel Fever.

pink

The new pink background....has nothing to do with the gender of our baby (at least not that I know of). Ha! My timing on switching to a darling pink polka dot background is very misleading I realize. It was time to get rid of the wintery stuff and I went for something ultra-girly. Considering this is a blog dedicated to sharing my life with a YP and our adventures in youth ministry, it's probably not the most fitting...but isn't it cute?!?

I'm Baaaack!

In more ways than one, I feel like I can finally shout "I'm Baaaaack..." but I'll quickly follow that up with "but not for long."

Pregnancy is a CRAZY thing. I think I say that every day as I learn about a different effect it can have on your body. My first trimester was totally successful at slowing my whole body down. It seemed for a good 6 weeks very little was getting accomplished outside of the bare minimum. I'm really glad those weeks are behind us! I think my nice, clean house and house-cleaning husband are thankful too. :) It's good to be back to a normal or maybe even above normal energy level! I'm feeling great, so I'm baaaack!!! But not for long! All too soon a precious infant will be stealing every ounce of my time and attention and I'll start to neglect things all over again, and I don't even care. For the time being, a few things I've returned to...

1. Married2AYouthPastor.blogspot.com. Yes, I'm baaaaack. But, not for long. Tony's been as hilarious and entertaining and wonderful as ever, but I haven't felt all that inspired to write about our happenings. Bummer. I'm feeling inspired again and can't wait to share the craziness of our lives with the world wide web. I'm sure the couple of you that check this blog have missed us terribly!

2. Coffee Corner. I had a strange aversion to coffee the last few months. If Tony even started brewing a pot at home, I wanted to gag. The smell, just the thought of the stuff was totally ick. But this week I'm baaaaack!! (hopefully for good...this will probably not disappear with the arrival of our Widdel one). The thought of going to Coffee Corner and smelling the strong aroma of fresh grounds no longer terrifies me. In fact, I've enjoyed 2 mochas this week and they were as scrum-diddly-umptious as ever. aaaah. (Yes, for those concerned, I'm very careful of my caffeine intake. However, if the side effects of caffeine are a low birth weight and small head, I guess I don't understand why everyone freaks out..that sounds like a beautiful thing. oh well, i'll obey docs orders.) I also have to say, the gray haired men at the Coffee Corner were thrilled to see us return...and they're pretty stinkin' excited with our news!

3. Smelly Stuff. Not only did the smell of coffee make my stomach turn the last couple months, the smell of all of my lotion and body wash did too. I have to admit, Tony's cologne was the WORST. It's a delightful smelling cologne that he got for Christmas and I really like it, but I had to kindly asked him to NEVER WEAR IT AGAIN one day as I ran away from him. Don't worry - we can be close again, I'm baaaaack and I'm totally over it. Pregnancy is a crazy thing.

4. Vacuuming. As fun as it would be to say that being pregnant has made me puke at the thought of vacuuming, it would be a lie. Pregnancy did, however, take away my motivation for maintaining an impeccably clean house for awhile. You must realize, I really really really like a clean house. I even enjoy house cleaning - a lot. But, I'll confess for a couple months very little got done (by me) around our little house. Our poor vacuum must have felt completely neglected. Tony picked up the slack. His version of a clean house and mine are slightly different, but he's awesome and wonderful and i'm really thankful for all the dishes and laundry and bathroom cleaning he tackled. The good news for both of us is - I'm baaaaaack! (but, not for long :). I have more than made up for my lack of vacuuming the last couple weeks, I just can't stop. jk.

Ok, you get the point....I'm baaaaack! But not for long.