iheartfaces - A Touch of Sun

Oh, the sun. The hope it sends in spring. The beauty and fun it provides in summer. And, the memories and glory it displays in fall. It's so refreshing to our souls.

(Hey, there's a reason I left out winter... I live in the frozen tundra and most of the time it just produces a nasty glare on the snow during that season. But then spring comes!)

Anyway, this week's challenge on IHeartFaces is A Touch of Sun. I had to pick a photo of a senior I shot down by Lake Michigan this summer. She is gorgeous and it was a beautiful day. There were so many good ones I could pick but this one just screams JOY to me.  :)

Hope you enjoy it, too.

Then, head on over to www.iheartfaces.com to see more entries!

vulnerability

Here is a vulnerable moment for you:

I like being pregnant because of the miracle that it is,

but, I can't wait to be thin again.

My first pregnancy showed up during my training for a half-marathon. This one immediately followed me actually running a marathon. I like fitting into my clothes. I like feeling good about myself.

I still don't think that I've fully embraced this one. We've had so many issues so far and I've yet to feel the baby consistently move (at almost 18 weeks). I guess I'm still waiting for... I don't know.

And, when I was pregnant the first time, I was working at a hospital and was in "business casual" every day that I borrowed from a coworker. So, really, I don't have clothes that fit right now. Nor do I have the money to buy clothes that fit.

It's totally selfish, I know.

But, I just can't wait til this baby is here and I can get skinny again.

-kt

Fall

If you know me at all, you know that fall is my favorite season.

There are just so many great things that come with it! From pumpkins, to cute & cozy outfits, apple cider and everything you can do at a pumpkin farm, there is just so much fun to be had.

Really though, I feel like I love fall because it's a chance to start over. No matter how great of a game plan you went into summer with, most likely by the end of it you were craving some stability and routine. I know I was.

This turned out to be one of the most trying summers I've ever experienced.

We had a death in the family, another family member rushed into emergency surgery, lots of things that seemed like open doors for the hubby and me being closed ubruptely, among other things. Friends got busy, so I didn't have my support system. And, then there was this pregnancy...

I like to think of myself as a pretty stable person. (ok, ok... mainly when things are seriously wrong. I do like to make mountains out of molehills but when there is a real issue, I usually stay pretty cool). This pregnancy rocked me. While sparing you the personal details, I'll say this: we were to the point where we were told we were miscarrying and we came back a couple weeks later to follow-up only to find that the baby was doing fine. I mourned the loss of a baby I still have. It was an emotional rollercoaster. As I sit here and type, my little one is flitting around in my tummy and I still find myself feeling a big unattached.

So, bring on the cider! Bring on the caramel apples! Let's carve some pumpkins and get lost in a corn maze! I'm ready to watch the Packers win... lots! Let's get this belly bigger and the baby kicking more consistently. I want to be all there for my hubby and be all there for the little mister. That starts with me.

I may not be buying school supplies or back-to-school clothes, but I get to start over. Summer is done. We're back to our routine and I get to start fresh. It's so exciting!

And, with that... I will leave you with this...

-kt

it's official!

Well, we announced it via facebook, so therefore, it's official...

Tiny T #2 will be here in February!

I love his face.

I love my little family. It's crazy that it's growing so fast! But, we are so blessed. God has been so good to us. We don't have a lot, but we have more than we need. He's always been faithful and it has been amazing to see all the different ways He provides. I am definitely the type of person who loves surprises... especially surprises from God. He's really good at keeping it a secret until He's ready for us to see it.  ;)

love to you all,
-kt

iheartfaces - Beautiful Eyes!

This week's challenge over at iheartfaces.com is Beautiful eyes! I HAD to use a picture from my most recent senior session. This beautiful girl has such amazing eyes, I don't even have to tweak them!  I'll let her picture speak for itself...

Head on over to iheartfaces.com to see more beautiful eyes!

our garden!

Back in May, I posted the beginning pictures of our garden.

Well, here's an update:

We have some veggies!

Yum!

-kt

my husband is my hero

Honestly.

Not even kidding.

We have seemed to have tiny disaster after tiny disaster around the house and he has been a ROCKSTAR fixing things, taking care of stuff, and still going to work longs hours at his exhausting job with a great attitude. He's so awesome.

The landlord wants us to cut down some trees. He spent an entire day outside and only got part of one done. These trees are HUGE. For more on that topic see this previous post.

Then, one night (shortly after he installed a new mailbox) we woke up to find that some kid had taken a piece of wood from a nearby pile and smashed it! I mean, completely destroyed the thing. Hubby was so quick to go get us a new one and put it up.

Our shower leaks into the basement and he is currently stripping away the caulk to replace it. I had a theory about the leak and was totally wrong. He correctly diagnosed the problem and knew exactly how to fix it from the moment he looked in the basement.

Then, last night, the worst happened.

*What you need to know first:  every night when I put the little mister down to sleep, I pray for his safety and the safety of this house. I command a legion of angels to come down and surround the house and I tell the demons to leave and not return in the name of Jesus. I have never been more convinced that God is answering my prayers.

To be honest, when the mailbox got smashed, I was scared and a little bitter. I felt like God didn't protect our property. It mad me feel nervous because the mailbox is right outside the little mister's window and that is just too close. I slept through it and that is SCARY!  But, after I thought about it for a while, I realized that God was so gracious to us that night. He totally protected us! Those kids/that kid that smashed the mailbox could've easily decided to break a window (the little mister's window), smashed the truck, broken in, etc. But, they didn't! They hit the mailbox and left! So, God did honor my prayers after all!

On to last night... I had text Hubby to tell him that we blew a fuze in the LM's room and asked him to check it out when he got home. He came in around 2:30am to wake me up telling me that we needed to move the LM into the living room to sleep. Hubby told me that it's pretty much a miracle that our house didn't burn to the ground. Then he showed me that one of the LM's outlets was burnt from the inside out and was melting. It was horrifying!

Check these out:

Hubby said that a piece of plaster fell onto where the wires meet the outlet cover and the plaster started to melt. Once it got hot enough, it started to burn. It's just a miracle that Hubby found this. That outlet wasn't even affected by the blown fuze. He didn't even have to check it! But, he did. And, we're all fine.

And, he replaced it all today. We're back up and running, nice and safe.

Praise Jesus.

So, thankful for my sweet Hubby and for answered prayer.

Gotta keep this little one safe:

-kt