10 dates before baby

We are in the single-digit countdown to Christmas and our due date.  So to soak in these moments with my amazing husband we created our "10 Dates Before Baby".  These are small things, and most of which we can do at home with no cost.  Marriage doesn't mean that the dating ends, and in fact, we have to be consciously aware to not get too comfortable and forget about dating one another.  We know that life will change drastically with the arrival of our baby, so spending as much time together just the two of us is important.  

I tried to find some fun activities that we already enjoy doing, and also added in some to soak in the holiday spirit.  Without further ado, here are our 10 dates:

1. Decorate Christmas cookies

2. Watch a Christmas move together and drink hot cocoa

3. Do a random act of kindness for one another

4. Have a lunch date

5. Go see the Christmas lights

6. Make a pancake breakfast

7. Take a long walk together

8. Get a gift for Minnie together

9. Go to the movies

10. Cheese and crackers while playing a board game 

Sunday night we kicked off our first date and decorated Christmas cookies, to which the husband told me he never did when he was a kid.  My mother in law soon corrected him, and I can't wait for us to do this next year with our little guy.  I'm pretty sure that more frosting went into Daniel's mouth than the cookies.  It was most definitely a very fun night with one another! 

our largest purchase yet

{via}

Have you ever been in a season where you had no idea how on earth things would go?  This summer was a tumultuous season for us as we were thrown into house-hunting head first.  We weren't necessarily ready to buy a house, and so it made us scared, fearful, but we knew the only thing we could do was pray.  

My mom owns the quant condo we have lived in for the last four years.  It's perfect for us.  Two bedrooms, two baths...we've made it our own.  When my mom decided that she wanted to sell this summer we knew it would be coming, but we just weren't quite ready.  And let me tell you, houses in San Diego are ridiculous!  In our price range, the houses were tiny, old, and desperately in need of lots of love-which we knew just wasn't what we were ready to do.  

So we started looking in Temecula, a town about 45 minutes north of us.  And we decided we were ready to take the plunge, move farther away, and trust that God would provide us jobs, friends, and community up there.  The more we looked, the more we really thought we were going to buy a house.  And then things started crumbling.  Between houses being bought faster than you could blink, neighborhood disagreements, and the realization that our commute until we find jobs up there would be miserable.  Plus, we are having a baby in just a few months and are blessed to live so close to family.  Why would we move away from that?  

God opened a door, and we decided to purchase our current condo from my mom!  We wouldn't have to move.  We would be able to establish ourselves here, in this house, and invest in it.  We could build a community in our town, which we love with all of our heart.  And as soon as the thought came to our minds, and we started discussing all of the positive points, it was as if the black glooomy clouds that had been following us all summer long had lifted.  

What I struggled with was that we said we wanted to be open to where God wanted us, meaning God take us away, we're okay with that, and we will trust you in faith.  And now that we don't have to move, I feared that we weren't trusting God, going out on a limb for Him, living boldly.  And then I realized that sometimes God wants you right where you are.  He has other plans for us, and has blessed us abundantly with our family close by.  Plus, He also knows how much we can handle, and I'm pretty sure God saw me unraveling under the stress and anxiety of finding a house, moving right when work started back up, and be pregnant all the while.  

And so with that we began the crazy amount of paperwork that is involved, we started planning out what we will do to our lovely abode to fix it up a bit and make it ours, and we started melting into one another as we realized we are buying or first house.  It may not be a huge house, but I'm embracing living small and living simply.  And this condo is perfect for us right now.  

We are officially in escrow and would truly appreciate your prayers that everything continues to go smoothly! 

insert happy dance here

I keep coming back to this scripture over and over these past few weeks.  It is a perfect promise of how God will provide for you, and when you see that promise face to face, all you can do is smile, take a breath, and thank the One that made it happen. 

Daniel and I have dubbed this season in our life the "Sweet Season".  And for the first time in three years, we can finally say this.  There have been lots of moments of joy, but there have also been lots of trials.  Many trials.  And though these trials haven't seen trivial, they have hurt and challenged us.  The past three years I have juggled teaching full time and getting my masters/reading specialist credential.  And in just three weeks, we will get to close this chapter of our lives. 

And it feels as though a snowball effect has been occurring as our chapter comes to a close.  

Last week, this beauty came in the mail.....I officially passed my comp exams.  That weekend from, you know where, is now a chapter in the books.  (By the way, I'm not a Mr. SDSU.) 

Yesterday I turned in my thesis, freshly printed, bound, and shining like a diamond, to my professor.  That felt amazing.  

And to top it all off, we payed off Daniel's student loans this week as well!  That feels like a huge triumph, and all I can say is that I am incredibly proud of my husband and how he has led us financially to allow this to happen.  (Now if only mine would disappear!) 

So excuse us if you see us doing a little happy dance inside Trader Joe's or walking to the mail box, we are embracing this sweet season with open arms and give all the glory to God! 

real talk: words within marriage

Be good.

I remember my mom telling my brother, sister, and I this when I was little.

It was like a blanket to cover all offenses.

Be good...

I've always been good, done everything right, got the grades, took the job, followed directions, lived the plan.  And lately, my perception of what "good" is has been really transformed.

One of this summer's blessings has been the development of She Reads Truth.  If you haven't jumped on the band wagon yet, I urge you to stop reading-like now-and head over HERE!

She Reads Truth has helped me actually do a devotional and stick with it, and I love waking up each morning excited to read my bible.  It takes the guesswork out of where to begin, and it has really helped me to open my mind to what God is trying to teach me.

Our current devotion is through the book of Proverbs.  To some it seems like a ton of fragmented commandments of how to "be good".  It felt a lot like that to me up until now.  Now that I'm actually reading it in its entirety, letting the chapters add onto one another, I'm opening myself up to what I need to really focus on and change.

"The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence." 

-Prov. 10:11

"Like a gold rind in a pig's snout is a beautiful woman without discretion." 

-Prov. 11:22

"Whoever guards his mouth preserves life; he who opens wide his comes comes to ruin."

-Prov. 13:3

Can you tell what God is trying to teach me, yet???

I always thought that I was good with my words, and then I got married.  Being married has really shown me who I am and where my faults lie.  My husband's main love language is words of affirmation.

(Side note: I'm being brave, honest, and open here.  I'm letting you in on one of my weaknesses, knowing that authenticity here on the blog is something that matters to me greatly.)

I learned this quickly and tried to add to my speech and encourage my husband, tell him why I appreciate it, give him praise, and be specific.  I thought I had it down, just add something onto what I already did.  What I've realized through the book of Proverbs is that I don't guard my words with my husband at times, and take it for granted.  I know that I'm human and hopefully am not the only one who realizes this as well.  I took what I was saying to my husband and tried to add onto it by telling him when he did something nice, or why I appreciated him.  The speech that had a tendency to cut cold would still sneak up-counter acting ways I was trying to affirm him.

As I was talking to my husband about this, who was so loving and caring about my newfound knowledge, I realized that God was telling me I need to change the way that I speak to my husband, not just add to it.  True change is looking at how I talk to him, identifying where I'm not guarding my speech and letting emotions take over, and changing that!  Not adding words of kindness onto angry or hurtful words, trying to use it as a bandaid.  But truly loving my husband through my words.