The Happy Life Wife

So, thanks to living in the great state of Pennsylvania that still recognizes pregnancy as a "pre-existing illness," I get the the lucky card to take completely unpaid maternity leave. You're ALL jealous I know! I missed having it by four days folks.

So, can we get a sponsor for this?! I'm an RN still paying off student loans, my husband is a veteran who is in school full time and working the only other hours he has off. I was hoping to take a nice long break with the little peanut, possibly not even go back to work, but those dreams are quickly being dashed. 12 weeks of FMLA is turning into maybe taking 6 weeks. I've already cried at the thought of daycare for a 6 weeks old and it's breaking my heart. 

I'm trying to keep the faith that it will all work out in the end. Currently looking for some per diem work, but since I already work 5 days a week there isn't much room for much more work. 

Pray for us, we need it, and appreciate it.

And for reals guys, if you wanna sponsor us, just let me know :) haha!

Sunday, is honestly my most favorite day of the week. I really hope that one day I can have a job that ensures that I have every Sunday off. It starts by attending church, then teaching an amazing group of 4h and 5th graders Sunday school, followed by brunch with the fam, and usually concludes with several hours of hopping from one open house to the next.

This week, I think I discovered a dream house for us...I adore it! Ok, well I found two that are just great, and are at total opposite ends of the spectrum.

First, there is the move in ready house (other than buying a washer/dryer and getting a fence). It's an amazing brick house that has been recently renovated. We basically would never have to move and could raise our family here. However it may be at the top of our price range right now. Check it out here.

Second, it's a total fixer upper with lots of potential, but lots of work. We'd consider this a starter home and want to either re-sell or consider it for a rental property by the time our kids were going to go to school. It's a great area, but not so great schools. It's a great price, but like I said we'd spend a lot of time/energy to get it up to par. Check it out here.

Please feel free to comment and give feedback on if you guys like/suggest.

Back to Sunday school...something I look forward too ALL week. One of my most favorite ages of children, these kids are amazing. This week we started discussing parables. It's awesome to see these kids dig into God's word and get excited about it. They worked together and got into some really deep stuff. Seeing it "click" for them and relate it to their lives as 4th and 5th graders is such an amazing thing to witness. We decided to start a blog for them and their families, and they are going to do weekly podcasts about what they are learning, and it's so exciting! 

Tonight we celebrated our lurve early (we celebrate it as often as we can), but you will here more about that tomorrow. Hope you all had a great weekend!

So, this post is inspired by a Valentine's Day Card competition. This photo will soon grace the wall of our bedroom. It's our wedding bands with a portion of scripture read from our wedding, and many other weddings, 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7.

The photo, taken by me one day at the first house we had together in Cincinnati, represents us a lot. Our marriage and lives are Christ centered. Christ is who brought us together, and we try to live our daily lives putting Him first, and letting our love grow in His image. The scripture is right, Love never fails. Our love for each other, for Christ, and His love for us never lets us down. Times may be tough, not always a walk in the park, but our love for one another, and our love and trust in Him gets us through it all...the good, the bad, and the sometimes ugly. 

Spoiler Alert: I think photo may be the winner for the homemade card that the hubs gets this year :)

Along with Valentine's Day comes another great day, the day after in fact, which is the hubs birthday. Seriously, we jam pack events in a couple of months. Christmas, New Years, Valentine's Day, Kurt's Birthday, and my birthday all before April. Not to mention that the Momma-in-Love, both Scott and Jana's (brother/seester-in-law), my dad, my aunt, and my uncle's birthdays are all in the mix as well, yikes!

So, for some time I've been saying I was going to lose weight/get in shape....saying is the operative word there. Little has actually been done to shed any of those pesky lbs.  So, I have vowed to lose at least 30 pounds by our annual trip to the beach in July. I have 22 weeks, which in turn means I just have to lose a little over a pound a week...seriously I should be able to do that right?! I have issues with my thyroid which does make it difficult...but not impossible and I think I've been using it as a mental crutch/excuse to not TRY to lose weight and really set my mind to it, because I was just getting SO frustrated with dieting and working out and not seeing results. Therefore, I'd just give up.

This time around I'm not dieting, I'm just going to eat better and really focus on portion control. The hubs and I are only eating out one night a week, on our date night. I really have been feeling the desire to do this since reading Candace Cameron Bure's book Reshaping It All,  you should really check it out. It's got me super motivated, and has some great suggestions on how to rely on your faith, get/stay fit, and some great recipes that she uses in her own home.

So here's to getting started on what will be a long journey. I'm not planning on stopping at the beach goal weight, it's just a starting point!