What are we up to? Part 2

I am not sure how I left out one of my biggest projects!

*I am still writing for the student ministry for our church in Texas. I finished a study on Authority that will kick off the year and I am working on finishing a study of the book of James to fill out the rest of the semester.
*I also have a new friend here in Florida who writes for Lifeway and has mentioned me to her editor. I am going to be contacting them and sending some of my work in. Not sure where it will lead...but we will see!

I am off to watch a friend's little girl for a few hours and then headed for my weekly Friday lunch with Hal. Five Guys burgers....ymmmm! We are looking forward to this long weekend as I am sure most of you are as well. I would love to hear what all of you are doing!

What are we up to?

Fall seems to be the time that everything gets into full swing.

*Hal and I started a Leadership Class at our church, Sarasota Baptist. The class is a 32 week course that meets on Wednesday nights. This semester we are doing a survey of the Old Testament and the Spring Semester will be a survey of the New Testament. We will also cover Bible Doctrines and do scripture memory. We are both so excited to get to this class and the fact we get to do it together makes it even better!
*BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) starts back for me next week. This year I will be serving as Substitute Teaching Leader. I will have the privilege of teaching the Introduction Classes each month as well as teach seminars periodically. This year we are studying The Life of Moses. I am excited to start this as well....I love studying the Old Testament!
*Hal is busy at work but is getting settled into a routine. He is working long hours and has to work some Saturdays, BUT he is home every night and those hated drop offs at the airport are few and far between.
*Of course we are also getting ready for Drew. We keep talking about how fast late November/early December will come! We have his nursery almost done and I will post pictures once it is finished. We have several classes scheduled at the hospital for this fall, including a tour of the labor and delivery area next week. We were talking the other day that if I did go into labor, we wouldn't know where to go at the hospital other than the ER, so we will make sure we take care of that next week!
*We can't wait for Thursday night....the kickoff of college football! We have nothing planned for this Labor Day but watching football!

As you can see we are going to have a busy fall and a busy spring even if we weren't having a baby! I have struggled with feeling a little overwhelmed, but know that the Leadership Class and BSF are both things that God has called me to do. We are praying for childcare for Drew for two mornings a week after the first of the year so that I can continue with BSF. We know that having a baby changes everything, but we also know that we have a big God who can work out the details and is worthy of our time spent in service to Him. I repeat this to myself when I start to stress about finding childcare or wondering if I can handle it all.

Home from Houston

We had a great time in Houston! It was great to see Kim and Nate and to get to meet Owen and Blake. We also enjoyed spending time with Kim's mom who has been there for a few weeks to help Kim. Blake and Owen are doing great! We had so much fun getting to help out with them. Hal loved sitting on the couch and holding the boys on his chest. After a very long 8 months for Kim and Nate, it was such a blessing to see two beautiful boys and their two wonderful parents who couldn't be happier!

Saturday night we went downtown for our friend Vani's birthday party. It worked out great that we happened to be in town. It was great to see here as well as a few other friends from Houston. Happy Birthday Vani!

Sunday we headed to church. We were able to visit with friends we had meet through the student ministry as well as see the students we worked with. It was a great end to the weekend!

25....almost 26 weeks

I had a few emails while we were gone asking about where we were registered. I posted links to the registries on the right side of the page.

So Long Fay

Fay made landfall farther south than they expected and only as a tropical storm. We haven't had any rain yet....just a little wind but they say we should see rain this afternoon. Looks like our plans for the week will go on! We are so excited to go to Houston. We will be staying with Nate and Kim and get to help them with Blake and Owen for a few days. We will also get to see Kenny an Susannah and their baby, Luke who was born last Friday. Saturday night we will be celebrating our friend Vani's 30th Birthday. It will be a busy trip.....but a much needed visit with friends!

Fay, Fay, Go AWAY

Listen up Fay....this is what I need you to do. I need you to come across Cuba tonight and take a rouie (a.k.a a right turn) and head out to the open waters of the Atlantic. I hear the waters out there are nice and you can get as big as you would like and not harm anyone. Thanks!

We are of course watching Fay. We have our water, lights, food, batteries, etc. I am scheduled to leave for Houston on Wednesday afternoon and Hal is supposed to follow me on Thursday. We are praying on trip goes on as planned!

Snoogle

I have a new best friend.....my snoogle(see the pic of the lovely lady demonstrating above.) I was having trouble sleeping and couldn't get comfortable. I had read about the body pillow called a Snoogle, but I figured it was just a gimmick. After a few more nights of trying to manage multiple pillows, I gave in and bought a snoogle. It was a wise purchase! Although it does take up a little room in the bed...I am sleeping better and I am pretty sure that means Hal is sleeping better too! He is in Mexico this week, so the Snoogle and I have the bed to ourselves.

Olympics

We are addicted to the Olympics. We watched it all weekend long starting with the opening ceremony. We loved watching swimming, gymnastics, and basketball. I don't even mind if I know the outcome...I just love watching it! I have found myself laughing at a few of the events. I consider myself pretty knowledgeable about sports and I have to admit I didn't know there was ever such a thing called handball. I couldn't quit watch it without laughing....just seems odd. It is like a mix of soccer, basketball, and volleyball and I can't quite figure out the rules! Hal is out of town this week so I will be catching lots of Olympic action! :)

Progress

I just got back home from dropping off mom at the airport in Tampa. We had a very busy and productive week. We spent quite a bit of time in Drew's room. Saturday, mom, Hal, and I painted his room and a bookcase. Mom and I also worked on covering a chair and ottoman for his room as well. We have a few more things to get it finished up and then I will post pictures. Mom and I also painted a large chest blue to put in mine and Hal's room. We also managed to find some time to go shopping....of course Drew came away with a few things. I seem to have a hard time buying clothes larger than 6 months. :)

ABC World News Tonight

I have shared the story of our friends Nate and Kim Stroh with you over the last few months and many of you have been so gracious to pray for them. The boys were born on July 3rd...both boys are doing very well and it looks like Owen will get to come home this week with Blake soon to follow. Last night they were featured on ABC World News Tonight....click HERE to read the story and see the video.

Nate and Kim are both thrilled that they were able to spread the message about Twin Twin Transfusion with over 8 million viewers last night. Early detection is key in order to treat this condition.

Hal and I are looking forward to our trip to Houston in August to meet Blake and Owen and spend time with Nate and Kim. Please continue to keep them all in your prayers.

21 Week Belly

My photographer a.k.a my neice Jessica took a picture for me to post today. Drew is starting to make his presence known not only by my expanding waistline but also by his little hands and feet. Have a good weekend!

Company's A Coming

Hal and I are so excited that our niece Jessica is coming to spend a week with us. I am picking her up in Tampa this afternoon and she will be here until Monday. We are going to do some shopping, probably go to the beach, head to Orlando on Saturday, and who knows what else we will get in to. The picture to the left is of us in Tennessee last summer....my belly is a little bigger this summer. :)

After she leaves on Monday, I head back to Tampa to pick my mom up on Tuesday. She will also be here for a week.

Really?

As I was watching Drew on the ultrasound screen, I couldn't help but think what I am pretty sure a lot of moms have thought before, I realize it isn't an original thought! I kept thinking...."how in the world can anyone look at that screen and not believe in God?" I just can't imagine not believing in the one and only creator God. I mean something like that can't just happen out of nowhere....and it doesn't evolve. It could only come about by the all knowing, all wise, creator God. He is the only one that can make something out of nothing....just as He did when He created the heavens and the earth and all that is in it.

I realize that I write this from a bias perspective because I do believe and I know God personally, and it breaks my heart to think about another mother lying there and looking at that screen and not seeing the workmanship of God as they look at their child. It gives me a new way to pray for those around me and more importantly, it drives me to my knees in thanksgiving that I do believe and that I do have a relationship with the creator God. Sometimes, I think I can take that for granted.....how HUGE that really is. Actually, it is everything.

Have a good weekend.

It's A Boy!

We had our 20 week ultrasound today and learned that we are having a boy! There wasn't any guessing with this one....he was proud to let us know. :) We are both so excited to welcome Andrew (Drew) Edward Ramsey and with nieces on both sides our families are excited as well! The doctor thought everything looked great as far as development and I am feeling great. Above is a side profile pic of Drew.

NYC

For some reason I couldn't get the pics at the bottom...so read the post at the bottom. It will better explain the pics. :) Magnolia Bakery- Greenwich Village
Cupcakes from Magnolia Bakery
Before "A Catered Affair"
I guess you can call that a baby bump. :)
Dessert after the show....yummy cheesecake! :)

We had a great time this weekend! I was quite able to keep up our usual NYC pace, but we were still able to do alot. We battled a little bit of rain, but that didn't stop us. We left Sarasota around noon on Thursday and with two on time flights we were in the city by 7:30. We headed out to dinner at The Eatery in the Clinton/Hell's Kitchen area and had a great meal. Hal had some super yummy mac and cheese. Friday we were in a cab headed for the Lower East side by 9:00 and had breakfast at Clinton Street Baking Co. This restaurant was in an interesting neighborhood that we had visited before. The breakfast was great! I had seen the owner on Martha Stewart and it didn't disappoint. We then headed for one of my favorite places in the city, Century 21. Century 21 is like TJ Maxx but 1000 times better. It is in a former bank building right across from the World Trade Center site. I managed to come away from there with some shoes. :) We then walked up Broadway to Greenwich Village. We love just walking the city...you never know what you will find. We loved Greenwich and managed to find Magnolia Bakery. There were people wrapped around the block to get cupcakes....they were great! We continued to on to one of our favorite areas, the Flatiron District/Madison Square Park. There is an interesting store Fishs Eddy there that we found last time. They have really interesting stuff. We were planning on watching the big fireworks show along the East River, but after walking all the way over there.....we ended up leaving! I wasn't feeling that great and we realized we hadn't eaten dinner and had only grabbed something quick for lunch so we headed for dinner and then watched the fireworks on TV! :) Saturday we dodged the rain by going in and out of the stores on 5th Ave and then heading up to Bloomingdale's. Saturday night we had a great dinner at Dervish Turkish and then we to see A Catered Affair. The show was different than expected but wonderful. Sunday we walked around a little in the morning and then headed for the airport! I am leaving out a ton I am sure...thanks for letting us share our trip with you! You can click on the restuarant/Store names to see a link to their website. :)

2:00 AM

Our flight landed in Sarasota at 2:00 AM this morning. After being delayed out of La Gaurdia we got to Atlanta to another 4 hour delay...we left Atlanta at 12:30. Gotta love it when bad weather shuts down the busiest airport in the country for a few hours on the end of a holiday weekend! At least we made it home and our flight wasn't cancelled!!! I will put up pics and more about our trip later....we had a great time!

Our patio

I like lots of things about our new house, but I think that my favorite thing is our patio. Our house backs up to a nature preserve so there will never be houses behind us. It seems like there is always a good breeze out there so you can often find me out there in the morning with my journal and my Bible. In the evening, we love to eat dinner out there. Last night, we watched the lightning of a storm as it approached. View of the patio
Another patio view Flowers mom helped me plant
The preserve view from my table on the patio
Our table and chairs......notice our mascot to the right. :)

Weekend Update

We had a great weekend...it just seems like they aren't long enough these days for Hal! We tried a new pizza restaurant on Friday night that we really enjoyed. Hal needed to go into to work on Saturday so I got up and went in with him around 8:00. We took breakfast to the the guys working at the plant and then I worked on getting his office cleaned up. He has been in the office almost 3 months, but hasn't had the time to unpack boxes. We were there until almost 2:00. I took the rest of the time to work on the study of James I am writing for HAFBC Student Ministry and work on some of our plans for our trip to NYC over the 4th of July. I found a place to buy discount Broadway tickets and we got 1/2 price tickets for A Catered Affair on Saturday night. We then spent the afternoon working on a few things around the house.

Yesterday we were lazy and didn't make it to Sunday School. We made pancakes and then got ready for church. After church we went to Moe's (kind of like Chipotle or Flying Burrito) to eat and we ran into a couple we have met at church. Their kids were out of town and they asked us to sit with them for lunch. We ended up talking to them for over an hour....it was a nice treat! We have meet a lot of really nice people, but we haven't had many "real conversations" with people. It was nice to feel like we were really getting to know someone! Last night 3 young trainees who work from Hal came over for dinner. It is fun to treat them to a home cooked meal while they are away from home.

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.