Sonic

If someone wanted to make a few bucks, I think they should look into putting 15 Sonic franchises in the Sarasota/Bradenton area. After living in the land of Sonics a.k.a. Fayetteville, AR or Humble, TX, I am dying of thirst in Sarasota! My car said it was 99 degrees today while I was out and about.....and all I needed was a Large Diet Limeade from Sonic, but Sonics are few and far between around here so I had to settle for a bottle of water when I got home. Okay...I am done throwing a fit. All of you Fayetteville and Humble people think of me when you are enjoying your Sonic drinks. :)

Update

I have been getting in trouble for not being regular with my postings. So here is an update on a random assortment of things!

*We had our monthly checkup on Monday and had a great report. The heart beat sounded strong and my blood work was good. We go back on July 14th for an ultrasound and hopefully we will know whether Baby R is a boy or girl. I am not really "showing" yet...I just look like I have put on a few pounds. I am feeling really good and my current random craving is vinegar. Weird...I know, but I can't get enough of it. Everyday I have to have tomatoes and cucumbers cut up with vinegar and oil.

*Mom and Dad where here for a week earlier this month around my birthday. We were super busy while they were here. They helped with things around the house and in the yard. We showed them around Sarasota and took them to Orlando on Saturday. For my birthday we went to dinner at a restaurant in our favorite area of Sarasota, St. Armands Circle. Hal totally surprised me with a beautiful bracelet for my birthday. I say totally surprised me because I can usually figure out or at least come really close to what he is getting me, but I had no idea!

*Hal and I have been tossing around a few different ideas for what to do over the 4th of July weekend. We talked about Savannah and Washington DC, but I think we are going to end up with old faithful and head back to NYC. We love the city and wanted to make sure we went back before baby gets here. We are going to book the tickets tonight....my guess is we will end up with NYC.

*The house is coming along...all of the boxes are unpacked now. I am working on getting pictures hung and getting things organized.

*I still haven't seen a gator....I am pretty sure that they don't exist in Florida.

Request

A few weeks ago I posted about our friends Nate and Kim Stroh and their twin boys, Owen and Blake. (A picture of Kim on Mother's Day is to the left) The post is titled An Article to Read in case you didn't read it. Kim has made it 5 weeks from her surgery date! They have had a few ups and downs since the surgery date. Yesterday she was admitted to the hospital for an indefinite period. Owen, the larger twin, is now loosing fluid and they can't determine why. If he were to roll over on his umbilical cord, it could cut off his blood flow. Blake, the smaller twin, is almost 1 full pound smaller than Owen. They are going to be monitoring Kim as well as giving her a steroid injection to help with the boys lungs in case they have to take them. Please take a few minutes as you read this and pray for the following.

*Pray that the boys would make it to July 4th (32 weeks) or July 11th (33wks).

*Pray for peace for Kim as she spends time for the hospital.

*Pray for Nate as he trying to balance work, being with Kim, and concern for the boys.

Thank you so much for your prayers.

Loooonnnnggg Weekend

We are looking forward to a long weekend! Hal is ready for the much needed break and I am ready to have him at home for a few days. Hal's parents will be here tomorrow and we are excited to show the house and around Sarasota. Have a good weekend!

Gators and Cravings

I have been obsessed with alligators since we moved here. Weird, I know. Every time we pass a retention pond or any body of water I am looking to see if there is a gator anywhere. No luck so far, but last night we came close. I had a long day of unpacking and didn't feel like cooking so we went for pizza and on the side of the road we saw several police cars and a wildlife truck. We could see them with a huge black tarp and then realized they were throwing it over a gator. It was close, but I didn't actually see the gator. Maybe next time.

I haven't had the cravings yet where you want to mix random things together and eat them, but I have definitely had cravings since the nausea has been getting better. The funny thing is that I have been craving things I can't necessarily get! I have been craving my mom's potato salad. I tried to make it but, it didn't turn out like hers. She will be here the first week of June...I am pretty sure I can get some then. :) I have also been craving JD China from Fayetteville. No body makes Chinese food like Mrs. Jennifer....I tried some here, but it just wasn't as good. The other major craving has been for a Canadian Bacon sandwich with Ranch dressing and mozzarella cheese like my Uncle David used to make at his pizza place. Yumm...my mouth is watering. Maybe it is good that I am craving things I can't get my hands on, but I sure wish I could!!!

Lots of Boxes

I think the boxes are growing....it feels like I am making progress and then I look around and see that I have a long way to go! I think I underestimated how tired you can get in your first trimester. I thought that I would have them all unpacked after a week or so...of course I was basing this on how quickly I unpacked the boxes in Houston, but after almost 10 days, there is still plenty to do. I work for a while and then decide it is time to rest. Another hold up has been waiting on the painters. They have down the house in stages and hopefully they will finish it up soon.

I was glad to have Sarah L here with me last week. She helped me unpack. It was fun to show her some of the fun and beautiful things we have found here in Sarasota.

An Article to Read

Hal and I wanted to share this article with all of you as well as ask you to stop after you read it and say a prayer for our friends Nate and Kim. They are precious friends of ours from Texas and have been through quite an emotional few weeks. As you can read from the article, their twins had twin-twin transfusion. The article explains this in pretty good detail. There is also a video you can watch. Kim and the boys all seem to be doing well after surgery. Please take a few minutes to pray for the boys continued growth and specifically that Kim will be able to carry the boys to mid-July. Thank you so much for taking a few minutes to lift them up before God Almighty.

Click here for a link to the story in the Houston Chronicle.

Closing

Our closing is set for 4:00 today!!! We are praying everything that needs to happen today gets done. The movers will deliver our stuff tomorrow and we will spend our first night in the new house tomorrow as well.

Are we ever going to close?????

I don't remember much about buying our first house. I think I was in wedding lala land, but this one is going to be very memorable, but not in a good way! :) We signed the offer around the middle of March and were told we would close on our before April 30th. Well, as of right now, we still don't know if we are going to be able to close tomorrow! The moving truck will be here tonight with our stuff. We are trying to avoid having to put it into to storage as long as we close tomorrow. Hal and I are very ready to sleep in our bed as well as have two cars!!! Please pray that all the details will fall into place and we will be able to close tomorrow.

Many of you have asked how I am feeling. I am 9 weeks today and feeling pretty good. The nausea has been MUCH better the last week or so. I had an oh so fun sinus attack, but I am getting over it. Other than being tired, I am feeling pretty good!

Big News

Hal and I are so excited to share that we are expecting! I am about 7 weeks along which means we can expect Baby Ramsey in early December. I have been feeling pretty good this week after a rough week of nausea last week. We decided that we like to just do things all at once....we get married and move and now we are moving and having a baby! :) At least we have a little more time to prepare for baby, unlike our 6 week engagement.

We sold our house in Texas!! I am headed there tomorrow to help with a shower for my friend, Kim, who is having twin boys. Then the movers come on Monday and Tuesday of next week. I then fly back here on Wednesday. We hope to close on our new house sometime next week. We are anxious to get in the house and get out of this apartment.

HAFBC

I think that I have delayed in putting these pictures up because it meant we were really moving. :) These pictures are from our last Wednesday night at church...they show several of our friends as well as many of the students. Leaving this group of people was by far the hardest thing about leaving Texas!

Our house in Florida

I had a fight with Blogger trying to get this up, but here it is. :) Click on view all images if the slideshow never loads. Hal and I went to an early service this morning and then had lunch/breakfast and then headed to the house. Enjoy the pictures.....we are excited. Happy Easter!

Blessed

Blessed. This sums up how Hal and I are feeling right now. We made an offer on a house yesterday and we found out today that is was accepted! We have gone through some stressful moments lately as we researched houses and as we were on the ground here looking over the weekend, but we are absolutely amazed and humbled as we look back and see the hand of God on this entire process. We were able to find exactly what we wanted and we got an amazing deal.

We will probably be taking the buyout on our house in Houston. We don't know any specifics yet....but hopefully the details will all be worked out soon. I will put up pictures soon. :)

If my life were a movie or a TV show.....

If my life where a movie or TV show, today it would have had one of the following titles.

Golden Girls: We had an early flight into Tampa this morning and I dropped Hal off at the plant around noon. I then headed to the hotel to check in, but the room wasn't ready yet. I decided to grab some lunch and headed across the street to a seafood restaurant. As I walk in, I notice that I am the only young, and by that I mean under age 50, person in the restaurant. As I continue waiting on my table, I can't help but start chuckling to myself. I am not sure if it is the shorts and knee high socks or the couple that walked in with matching canes w/ a flowery motif on them. I just kept thinking...this is just like the Golden Girls! I just kept laughing out loud to myself in the car! :)

Legally Blonde: I am sure most of you have seen this movie. At one point she is stressed out and is driving around a her new town and slams on her breaks when she sees a nail salon. After lunch and checking in, I decided I needed a pedicure. I called 7, yes, 7 Aveda Salons and none could get me in this afternoon, so I decided it was time to get out of the hotel and I headed to look for a good ol' nail place. After driving about 4 miles, I SAW ONE! I made a quick left and practically ran into the place. The pedicure and manicure did me good. :)

That is the recap of my first day in Sarasota.....I am househunting tomorrow with the realtor. We had a great night last night....I will post pictures later!

What to Pack???

We are getting ready for our temporary move to Sarasota this week. Our flight leaves early Thursday morning. I have been working on getting our stuff packed, but it is hard to know what to take! We aren't sure how long we will be there before we come back to Humble to be at the house when the movers come. I have made numerous lists to try to think of as many things as I can! I will spend Friday previewing stuff with the realtor and Hal will join us on Saturday and Sunday. I am anxious to see Sarasota....it is weird to be moving to a place you have never been! :) Please pray for us as we look at new homes as well as make a decision about what to do with our home in Texas.

Breakdown in the car

No...my car didn't break down. I had a break down in my car. I had just walked out of a doctor's office and felt silly, stupid, and frustrated. For a few days preceding my trip to the doctor, I had been having tingling and numbness in the back of my head. Sometimes I think I am a border line hypochondriac (ask my mother about my numerous trips to the elementary school nurse) so of course it freaked me out. Hal was out of town, so I went ahead and made an appointment to see the doctor. I explained my symptoms, he asked if there was any other stress in my life......after that question, I knew what was coming. I explained to him that we were in the process of getting our house on the market and relocating. He then said that he felt that the numbness was due to anxiety. I was relieved on one hand and on the other I was somewhat angry at myself and embarrassed. I quickly made my way back out to my car, called Hal and told him, and then I sat in my car and cried. I began asking God to forgive me for my lack of faith and trust in His provision. I don't have to know necessarily how and when all the details of our move, the sale of the house, and finding a new house will take place. It probably won't work out the way I want it to or the way I would do it, BUT it will work out exactly the way God planned it and it will be for mine and Hal's ultimate good. That good may not be us making a big profit on our house, that good may be sitting in my car that day and recognizing that the God of the universe is in control and not me.
The two weeks since the breakdown in the car have been better, but not without challenges. Our house has been on the market over two weeks and it hasn't shown yet, the temptation to freak out is there, but God is so gracious. He has calmed my anxious fears and reminds me to make the choice to trust in Him. He also reminds me of His provision for us. It's a daily battle...and sometimes it is minute by minute battle, but I want to chose to trust Him.

Update

Life has been moving quickly for us lately. I don't think I realized how quickly until we were in our student service this morning. During worship, I looked up and saw students that we have grown to love worshipping and it really hit home that Hal and I just have one more Sunday left. Sure, we will be back to pack up the house once it sells or we take the company buy out, but next Sunday is our last normal Sunday. We have known moving was a possibility for a while and we have been talking about it for so long, but the time to move is coming fast!

Hal left tonight for Atlanta. It is his last week of travel in his old job. It was somewhat surreal for both of us when we were getting his luggage out of the trunk at the airport. We have done that countless times over the last two years, but we gave each other a high five, smiled, and said this is the last trip! He has been gone 6 straight weeks....and I know he is ready to be in one place for a while.

We have one way tickets to Sarasota booked for Thursday March 13th. We will spend the first weekend house hunting and Hal starts on Monday. Our first few weeks will be spent in a hotel and then we will move into a corporately furnished apartment around the end of March. We can stay in corporate housing free for 60 days so we will leave the house on the market for a while this spring. If it hasn't sold by late April or May, we will need to start thinking about taking the buy out option.

Please pray for us in this transition time. We have a lot of decisions that will need to be made about our current house and as we look for a new home. We are both learning a lot right now....more to come on that in future posts.

Hal's New Job

Several people have asked us what Hal will be doing in his new job in Sarasota. He will still be working for Cooper Industries, just working as a plant manager in one of their divisions. Click here to see the website for the business he will be working in. He is excited about the opportunity, but even more excited that what he will be working on will help save lives.

We originally thought he would be "officially" starting on March 17th, but that date keeps moving up. He will be spending most of the next two weeks in Sarasota. Please pray that we can get the relocation process going and get our house on the market quickly. Although we are sad to leave Humble, we aren't looking forward to him having to commute back and forth between Humble and Sarasota.

Things I Love

I love....

• My husband....he is amazing.


• Getting to travel with my husband when he is away working.


• Peanut M&M's


• My new glasses. :)


• HAFBC Student Ministry


• UNO


• text messaging


• the opportunity to study and write cirriculum for our student ministry


• honest friends- who aren't afraid to share their heart with you(You know who you are)


• Pappasito's Beef Fajitas. Yum!


• Hot tea every morning


• Guitar Hero


• Worship- Kenny and Susanna, the Ramsey's are going to miss you!


• You...for reading my crazy thoughts on this blog.

Christmas Pictures....A month late

Here are a few pictures from Christmas in Fayetteville....sorry they are a month late. Mom, Dad, Hal, and I went to Tim's before Christmas. We then took a walk around the Fayetteville Square. For those of you not from Fayetteville, each year they decorate the old Town square with thousands of white lights. It is beautiful and one of my favorite Holiday memories. Except for this year, I wasn't quite used to the cold! After a quick walk and a quick picture, I was read to head for the car. We also got to spend a lot of time with my family including my nieces. They really warmed up to their Uncle Hal.

Today we found out that Hal will be starting in Sarasota, FL on March 16th. We are glad to have a few more guaranteed weeks here in Houston. He will be doing quite a bit of travel during this transition time as well, but fortunately I will be with him quite a few of those times. Please join us in praying that we can get our house on the market quickly and that it will sell! More updates to come!