The Day Benjamin Came Into Our Lives

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Around 3am on Wednesday, May 15, I woke up feeling some light contractions. I had been feeling contractions on and off for a few weeks, so this was nothing new. I was in and out of sleep for about an hour before I decided the contractions were getting more intense and I needed to get up and move around a bit to relieve the discomfort. I went out to the living room and focused on relaxing through them, ate a small snack and sipped some water. At this point, I wasn’t convinced that it was real labor but I was preparing, just in case. Around 4:30, Andre came out to the living room and asked what was going on. I told him I was having contractions but not to get his hopes up because I thought they would fade off. About 5:45, they were coming every 3 minutes or so and lasting close to 45 seconds each. This meant I was in active labor, but I was still in denial because I didn’t want to get excited if it was nothing. Plus, I was easily able to breath through each contraction and I thought they would be a lot stronger if I was really in active labor. But I trusted my body and decided that it was time to call my parents to come stay with Jordi. (My parents have been here in Virginia staying at an Airbnb.) By now it was 6am and we decided to start packing up any last minute things and head to the hospital, which was a 35-40 minute drive away. My parents got to our apartment around 6:30 and Andre and I left just a few minutes later. I had a contraction outside, on the way to the car, but once I got in the car, my contractions slowed down a lot. I was only having a contraction once every 8 minutes or so and I started doubting that going to the hospital was the right choice. We kept going anyway and arrived at the hospital around 7:10. As soon as I got out of the car, my contractions picked back up again. We got to the waiting room and waited to be taken back. While in the waiting room, I was having consistent, strong contractions but was able to manage them with my breathing and wasn’t feeling like I needed to rush anything. Finally, after about 15 minutes, they took us back to a room. I don’t think anyone believed I was very far along in my labor because no one seemed to be in a rush. After answering a million annoying questions and being asked to sit on the bed to monitor the baby for 30 minutes (which never ended up happening by the way, haha!), I said I was feeling a lot of pressure down there and they decided to stop asking questions and check me. To everyone’s surprise, even my own, I was almost fully dilated. They called my doctor and started prepping for delivery. After 2 contractions with lots of pressure, I said out loud that I felt like I needed to start pushing. There was one nurse in the room at the time and then within seconds, my doctor ran in, as well as several other nurses. At this point I was still sitting with my back up against the bed and I knew I didn’t want to deliver in that position. I said I wanted to move to the foot of the bed and have Andre sit behind me to support me. Before the next contraction, I was able to move to the end of the bed, but the urge to push came on quickly and Andre was just to my side, holding me up awkwardly. That urge left and we had about 10 seconds before the next contraction came. He jumped on the bed behind me, supported my arms and back and Benjamin was born within a minute at 8:21am!

It happened so incredibly fast, I think it caught everyone off guard, even me and Andre. Just an hour prior, I was still not fully convinced that it was real labor, haha! The incredible thing is that the contractions never felt as strong as I had expected them to, and I think that’s why I never really believed that this was it, until it was really go time. I was so relaxed and in control that the intensity of labor never got all that intense. Not anywhere near what I was expecting at least. It wasn’t until I started feeling so much pressure down there that I started losing some control and feeling like it was too much. The last two contractions, where I could feel him coming out, is when things got crazy. All of my breathing and relaxation got thrown out the window and my body just took over. The feeling was so intense and my body was in so much shock that I had this paralyzing, numbing feeling run all the way up my body, into my neck, arms and hands. It felt as though it was impossible to control anything. I was almost just whimpering through it rather than putting force anywhere. Once they started telling me to bear down and focus my breathing and energy on pushing, I was able to use my brain and actually think about it. Finally, I was feeling like I was making progress and after the longest few seconds of my life, his head was out, and with one more push, his body was out. I immediately got to hold him and felt so much relief. I couldn’t believe I had actually done it! It took a few minutes for my body to calm down. The tingling that had run up through my body finally started to dissipate and my legs eventually stopped shaking. I had a second-degree tear and needed some numbing and stitches. He had pooped inside during delivery so they had to take him away for a few minutes just to make sure he hadn’t ingested any of it. Once they were able to give him back to me, he started nursing almost immediately. After a lot of blood loss, they had to pump me with Pitocin to speed up the process of my uterus shrinking. They had to push on my belly and force out several large blood clots, which was not fun at all. After a couple hours, we were able to bring Jordi in to meet his new baby brother!

Thinking back, it all feels like a dream. It happened so quickly and the fact that I only felt like I was in labor for a couple hours just blows my mind. From the first contraction to delivery, was about 5 hours, but for the first 3 hours, I didn’t even know if it was real. I’ve heard stories of women who have fast labors and deliveries and I always envied them. Now I’m one of them and I’m still in awe of it! And that I was able to do it the way I have worked so hard for for the last few months.

Natural childbirth isn't easy, but it is an incredible experience that proves how powerful and amazing women truly are. Experiencing it for myself has taught me that I am strong and capable and I can do anything I set my mind to. I have never felt so proud of myself! 

Time for an Update

I really don't use this blog all that often; at this point it's just a way to share occasional updates on my life and another way to keep a journal for myself. So that's exactly what I'm doing! I have been feeling lately like I need to share what's going on in my life for friends and family who care to know but I don't keep in good contact with.

So, life has honestly been really great lately! Currently, we are living in Chester, Virginia while Andre is working as a Health and Safety Specialist for Amazon. Recently, we spent a couple weeks in Arizona for Christmas, New Years and Jordi's birthday. Jordi did an awesome job on the trip there, he loved spending time with Grandma and Grandpa and his uncles: Jeff, Eric and Tim. We made Christmas cookies, played in the snow, rode on a train, ate lots of yummy food (Thanks, Mom), played with trains and towers and played lots of games. It was great to spend time with family and see some old friends and just enjoy being back in my hometown.

Jordi turned 2 years old last week and he is a dream! There's no doubt he's a toddler and he has his stubborn and difficult moments, but overall he is easy-going and mild-mannered, just like his daddy! He is shy around strangers and hates when mom or dad leaves the room. He is turning into quite the cuddler and I am loving it! Soaking it up while I can because I can't help but remember that one day he will be a teenager :( His vocabulary is exploding and he loves to repeat everything he hears. He understands English and Spanish in many instances and regularly uses words in both languages. He blows me away with how smart he is. He is learning some colors and numbers and can identify lots of animals and objects. His favorite things are planes, trains and building towers and he excitedly announces anytime he sees a plane flying in the sky, even if it's just a little speck. He is so observant, it amazes me sometimes. Now that we are awaiting the arrival of a new baby, I can't help but watch Jordi and think about him being a big brother! It's honestly kind of hard to imagine right now; him not being my baby anymore. Just a few short months though and it'll be a reality. I'm still trying to process it!

As for me, I spend my days at home with Jordi, just getting to be his mom, which I love! But for almost 2 years now, I've been teaching English online (VIPKid) in the mornings before he wakes up and last September, I started teaching dance in the evenings while Andre puts him to bed. All while growing another human being inside of me! It sounds like a lot, but honestly I feel great! Some days are longer than others. Mondays I wake up at 4:30 and teach until 8:30am. Andre has Mondays off so we spend the day together with Jordi (oftentimes including doc appointments) then I teach dance from 6-9pm. Tuesdays are almost the same as Mondays. Then as the week goes on, my days get less and less busy until the weekend comes and I get a two-day break (except from the mom part, of course). The best part of it all is that Andre and I make a great team... I take care of Jordi while he works (Wed-Sat) and he takes care of Jordi while I work (Mon-Fri). We're both able to have a life outside the home but our schedules work together so we don't have to worry about someone else taking care of our child. We still get to be there for those special moments, which is so important to me. Every time I think about it, I feel so blessed to be in this situation; it has been perfect for us. There are times when being a stay-at-home-mom makes me feel self-conscious and I wonder if I could be doing something more. This has given me the best of both worlds. I still get to be a "stay-at-home-mom" during the day but I also get to go out and work, do something I love, and contribute to the household income. It has done so much for my self-esteem and has all been such a blessing. At least for now, I wouldn't have it any other way.

As for the future, our new baby boy will be here in May and then we need to figure out what the heck we are doing. Our apartment contract ends in June and we've recently been talking about what we want. At this time in our lives, we have so many options. Do we stay here, continue renting and stick with what we've got going? Even then, we're in a two-bedroom apartment and feel like we'll need something bigger within the next year. So do we look into buying a house? If so, do we buy it here or try to find work elsewhere and buy one there? Do we even want to stay in Chester, let alone Virginia? Does Andre want to keep working for Amazon? Does he want to get a Master's degree? Where do we want to settle down? There are so many questions that come to our minds when we think about the future. We've got a good thing going here and now, but we don't feel content staying here for all that long. Everything just feels up in the air and we find ourselves trying to get all the answers at once. We often have to remind ourselves to slow down and take life a day at a time.

Overall, life is keeping us busy and there are always questions arising, but we are so happy and feel so blessed with all these opportunities, changes and challenges. We've got a good life going!

Thanks for reading!

Love,
Wendy

The Day Jordi Came Into Our Lives...

I wanted to take the time to write this out while it's still fresh in my mind. A week ago, on January 7, 2017, Jordi came into our lives and it's a day I never want to forget!

My parents had been here since Christmas Eve, awaiting the arrival of their first grandchild. He was due on Dec. 29, 2016 and we were all hoping he would make his appearance before the new year. Well, the new year came and went and still no baby. I had an appointment on Jan. 4 where we set an induction for the 7th, still hoping he'd come in his own before then. I was scared to death of being induced because of some of the things I had heard about pitocin. I really wanted to go into labor on my own. Well, the morning of the 7th came and I woke up feeling like I was having menstrual cramps. I had heard that labor can sometimes start out feeling that way and wondered if that's what it was. Then I went to the bathroom and to my surprise, blood. Another sign of labor. Hmm... So I continued to go about my morning, getting ready to head to the hospital at 8am. We got there right on time, and a few minutes later I was in a hospital gown waiting for the doctor to come in. She came in and asked how I was feeling. I told her about my morning and the symptoms I was having. With that in mind, she checked me and I was already to 3 cm and 80% effaced. She said that my body was already going into labor on its own! Because it was already doing it's thing, that meant I was more than ready to get the party started. The pitocin would just give it a good kick start and things would get moving a bit quicker. So, they started me on pitocin at 9:30am. Within the hour, I was feeling contractions 1-3 minutes apart. I went into this wanting to hold off on the epidural because I wanted to see what labor felt like and see how much I could handle.

By 11:30am I had had enough, so I asked for the epidural. At noon, I received it and starting feeling the contractions ease off within a few minutes. Aw... relief. Now I was able to relax and let my body and the baby do their thing. I was a little disappointed in myself though. I felt like I gave into the epidural too easily, but I just wanted some relief! The anesthesiologist had told me that the epidural would not take my pain away completely, but that it was meant to bring my pain down from a 10 to about a 4. You know how they ask you to rate your pain on a scale of 1-10? Right before I got the epidural, I told them my pain was at a 6 or 7. I felt like such a wimp but didn't even want to think about what 10 would feel like. After receiving the epidural, I was asked again to rate my pain. I told them it had gone down to a 3 or 4. When I expressed my disappointment to the nurse and anesthesiologist that I thought I wasn't handling the pain very well, they both agreed that by what the monitor had been showing, I was probably a lot closer to a 10 than I had thought and I was just being too modest with my ratings. Hearing that actually made me feel better about myself. Haha!

Anyway, they checked me again at 12:45pm. I had progressed to 4 cm and they broke my water.

Right around 1:45, I started to feel the epidural wear off so I pushed the button to administer more. Well, apparently I waited too long because contractions were back in full swing before it kicked in again.  It was so hard reverting back to feeling contractions again after I had just spent the last two hours feeling so relaxed and pain-free. It took almost an entire hour for the epidural to completely take over again. Ugh.

2:10pm, I was 6 cm.

By 4:00pm I was hoping I was progressing well and would be around 8cm. To my surprise, the nurse checked me and told me I was at 10 cm and it was time to start pushing. I couldn't believe what I was hearing! We decided to wait until 4:30 to actually start pushing to give the baby a little more time to move down and for the nurse to make sure everything was ready. She also wanted me to stop pushing the button for the epidural so that I could somewhat feel when a contraction was coming. That would help when pushing and would make the pushing a bit more effective.

4:30 came and it was time! Only 7 hours after I had started pitocin! I seriously couldn't believe it.

So, I pushed and pushed and pushed for about 45 minutes. I was told the doctor would come in when the baby was crowning. I believe it was around 5:15 when the doctor came in. I thought for sure that meant the baby would come out any minute. It wasn't until 5:50 that little Jordi was finally born!

From arriving at the hospital at 8:00am to delivering at 5:50pm, it took a total of just shy of 10 hours! I call that success!

I had expected that when he was born, a nurse would grab him and place him on my chest. Instead, the doctor pulled him out and immediately told me to take my baby! It totally caught me off guard! I couldn't believe that I was allowed to touch him! Haha! He was all slimy and bloody but I couldn't have cared less! It was the most wonderful experience being able to hold him in my arms just seconds after he was inside my body. For the first few minutes, he was laying on my chest with the hospital gown between us. He cried and cried, but I can honestly say those first cries were the most beautiful sound! As soon as I pulled the hospital gown down and put Jordi directly on my skin, he stopped crying immediately and just laid there peacefully for the longest time. It was such an amazing feeling!

Unfortunately though, the hardest part of it all hadn't even started for me yet. I had an amazingly quick and easy labor and delivery. I had a beautiful baby boy to call mine and I was overcome with joy and emotion. But a few hours later, the epidural wore off. Wowza! Recovering from childbirth is no joke! I was told I had a 2nd degree tear (yes, could be much worse), severe swelling and multiple abrasions. I'm obviously not super familiar with postpartum recovery and what is normal and what is not, but from what I was told by many nurses and doctors, my swelling was much worse than the norm. I didn't know anything different, all I knew was that it sucked to feel that way. Now, almost a week later, I still walk funny, I can't simply sit down without discomfort, it hurts to get in and out of bed and I move slower than a tortoise. I am seeing improvement everyday and honestly, my recovery is going quicker than I thought it would, but it has definitely been a rough week. For the first 4 days I seriously could not get in and out of bed without lots of help. Just walking from bed to the bathroom and back to bed again was a feat. Thank goodness for Andre and my mom! I could barely take care of Jordi for those first few days because I could barely even take care of myself. I couldn't stand long enough to change his diaper, I couldn't get out of bed to nurse him at night; someone had to bring him to me. Although the worst of it only lasted about 4 days, it was the longest 4 days I have ever experienced. Now I am feeling much better, but am still in the process of healing. Swelling is still going down, the bleeding still has a long way to go and my ability to sit comfortably is still something I look forward to! Oh and breast-feeding, well that's a whole other story that every new, breast-feeding mother knows all too well. What no one told me though is what it feels like to have to learn how to breastfeed when I can't even find a comfortable position to sit in because of my own postpartum pain. I can't wait for the day that I can just plop down on the couch without having to spend 5 minutes finding a semi-comfortable position! And then enduring 15-30 minutes of nursing in that position.

Ok, not that I'm complaining because this has been such an amazing week getting to know my newborn baby boy! We love Jordi so so so so much! I just want to show him off to the world! Even through my own physical struggles this week, I have been so happy! I have broken down in tears a couple of times because of pain, but I can still say that I have been so happy! I feel so blessed to have become a mother this week and it has been such a blessing to see Andre become a father and for my parents to become grandparents. Jordi brings such a beautiful spirit into our home and I would not ask for my life to be any other way right now.

Life-Long Learning

Life can be full of complications. Even if there are no huge trials going on in your life at the moment, still just everyday emotions and human existence come with challenges. That's me. I'm not going through any crazy life challenges right now. I'm alive and well, everyone I love is alive and well, I have a safe home, a good education, Andre and I are able to provide for ourselves, we have food on our table everyday, the list could go on and on. Yet, even though life is fairly simple and easy at the moment, I feel like I am constantly analyzing myself, and trying to right my wrongs, change my attitude, be a better wife, a better friend, a better family member, a better stranger, just a better person in general. That alone can make life complicated. I unfortunately fall prey to the natural man most of the time when dealing with emotions, and it is a constant battle for me to just show happiness in my everyday life! I honestly think that I just take things too seriously, and I over-think and complicate simple situations. I take things too personally and I worry too much about how other people see me. We'll also throw in there the fact that hunger makes me pretty cranky. Andre knows this all to well. And for some reason, I seem to be hungry all the time. haha

Andre and I are coming up on our 2-year wedding anniversary, and I am realizing that I am not as far along with my learning, changing and improving as I hoped to be at this point. I still get mad and offended by dumb little things. I show pride and selfishness constantly, and I easily try to place blame away from myself. Though these descriptions make me sound like an awful wife, I feel like I am ALWAYS analyzing my life and trying to be better, yet I'm still not even close to the person I'd ultimately like to be. Well, this is when I have to take it back a notch and look at it from an eternal perspective. 2 years. 2 YEARS! That's nothing! God does not expect perfection right now, and neither should you or I. It is a constant learning process, and will be for 50+ years to come. I am 24 years old, and if you think about 24 years on this earth, you'd think someone that's been doing something for 24 years should know what they are doing! Ya well, most of the time, I feel like I don't. But it's ok. If I live until I am 100, that means I'm not even 1/4 of the way done with my earthly life. That's nothing... again! I mean, I'm not even a mother yet, and once that phase starts, that'll be a whole new beginning to a life I have a hard time even comprehending right now. 

So, I started out this post feeling unsure of myself. Feeling doubtful, insecure and disappointed in who I've been. Well, yeah, I make mistakes, but it doesn't mean I'm a horrible person! Especially when I still have so much life and learning ahead of me, and everyday hands me something new. If we were supposed to be perfect and know everything by the time we were 24, there would be no reason to live until we're 100. None of this gives us a reason to give up on ourselves and stop improving or justify our mistakes, but it does give us a chance to realize that we are all human and that God gives us learning experiences on purpose. So, I guess the next time I want to be hard on myself and tell myself that I'm a bad wife, a bad person, or not good enough, I'll just have to chill and remember to take life one day at a time. You should too :) 

Another Move, More Changes, An Exciting Future!

I have felt like for the past couple years, well let's be honest, for the past 6 years, it's been move after move, change after change, new job after new job. This time, it's been a familiar change, but still a change. Since Andre and I have been married, almost 1 year and 8 months, we have moved 4 times. When we started off, it was back to Rexburg. Then Andre decided he wanted to change his career path. So, we left Rexburg in April 2014, never to return (Now, let's remember that I graduated in April 2013, and left not knowing if I'd ever be coming back, because Andre and I were still dating and hadn't made any commitment to marriage yet. So that's twice now that I left Rexburg thinking it'd be my last time). Then we moved to Sacramento, California until September, where Andre worked as a door-to-door sales rep for Ecoshield Pest Control. After that, we moved to Twin Falls, Idaho, where we were planning to stay for 3 years so that Andre could apply to the Rad-tech program at CSI, where he would study for 2 years, then we'd move to Boise so he could finish up with his Bachelor's in Sonography at BSU. That meant he'd be in school for another 4 years, and that's the plan we were sticking to. Then, in January of this year, something changed in Andre, and he decided that he didn't want to go down that path anymore. So he started researching other options. That brought us back to Rexburg, once again, so that he can study Occupational Safety and Health. He'll graduate with his Bachelor's Degree next April 2016.

So, for now, that's what we are sticking with. Andre seems content with his choice, and I am just trying to be a supportive wife as he figures out what he wants to do for the rest of his life, career-wise. I have to be honest, at first, the thought of moving back to Rexburg was... well let's just say, I wasn't too excited. I LOVED Rexburg while I was going to school, and was very sad to leave, but by now, I was over it and had moved on. I felt like, in a way, going back to Rexburg was a step backwards. But, as we prayed about our decision, and took the steps to go forward with the move, I started to feel better about the idea. To be honest, neither Andre or I were super in love with Twin Falls, and had been thinking about other options, but I never thought it would come to this: moving back to Rexburg, for like the 5th time for me, I might add. I just can't seem to get enough apparently!

Since we've moved back, it's been about a week and a half. School started this last Monday, and I am proud to say that I am taking a Spanish class on campus! One thing is to think I would never live in Rexburg again, but I am a BYU-Idaho student again after 2 years, which is something I seriously never even imagined would happen. It is definitely a funny feeling walking around campus with a backpack on and looking like every other normal student, when I know that I already went through all that! haha But, I must say, I am happy and extremely excited to learn spanish! I am blessed to have this opportunity and the time and money to learn the Spanish language, and will hopefully, one day fairly soon, be able to communicate with all of my spanish-speaking friends and family! I can't wait! I am especially excited for the next time we go to Ecuador, so that I can actually understand what's going on! I think going to Ecuador was what hit me the most. I realized that marrying Andre brought a huge amount of new people into my life, many of whom don't speak much English, if any at all, and I realized how truly important it is for me to be able to speak their language. Many of these people have been influential in Andre's life, and it is so important to me to be able to communicate with them!

As for jobs, Andre was able to transfer with Syringa Wireless in Twin Falls, to the store here in Rexburg, He works Monday-Friday here, and then works at the store in Idaho Falls every Saturday. In addition to that, of course he is also a full-time student. Boy, do I love that man. He knows how to work and he's not afraid of it. He does what needs to get done, without complaining a bit. For me, I don't currently have a job, but am in the process of finding one. I have a few things that may be possibilities, but haven't really panned out, so we'll see. Right now, I am focusing on learning spanish quickly and effectively, as well as getting back into a daily exercise routine, which I might add, I missed SO MUCH while living in Twin Falls. That's another blessing of being at BYU-I; a free gym and indoor track that are in walking distance from our apartment. I love it. Andre and I were both super excited to come back just for that. haha

Well, I think that's about it. I am so excited to see what this year has in store for us. We are looking forward to having my parents come up and stay with us for about 4-5 days in May, and we can't wait to show them our cute new apartment and spend some much needed time with them. We are so grateful for God's plan for us and are ready to keep going with whatever he throws at us. Happy Spring Everybody!

Love,
Wendy

2014 In Review

Once again, it's time for my year-end post. When I think back on 2014, there aren't too many experiences that stick out to me as unforgettable, but as I've been thinking a little harder and digging a little deeper, I've been able to think of some experiences that actually were pretty awesome. So here goes:

1. When Andre took the day off from work and surprised me with a day trip to San Francisco for my 23rd birthday! Up until the night before, I was thinking that Andre was gonna be going to work just like any other normal day, and my birthday was going to be pretty lame, but as we were laying in bed the night of the 16th, he turned to me and said, "so, I have to work in San Francisco tomorrow... and you're coming with me" haha. So, we got up fairly early the next morning, made a stop at the Black Bear Diner for some delicious breakfast, then made our way to San Francisco where we went to Ghirardelli Square, the Golden Gate Bridge, Pier 39, Chinatown, and then just drove around and looked at the cool houses in the city. It was such a great day spent with a great husband. :)

2. When my mom came to visit Sacramento. My mom means so much to me, and every time I move somewhere new, I love to share it with her. It was so great of her to make the trip up to Sacramento to spend some time with me and Andre. It also happened to be just a few days after her birthday, so we surprised her with a birthday cake and a present the night she arrived. Throughout the time she was there, we did some pretty awesome things. We went to Calaveras Big Trees State Park, Downtown Sacramento and toured a historical mansion (I don't remember what it was for or what it was called, but it was cool), we went on a day trip to a cool little town called Sutter Creek where we ate some super delicious sandwiches,  and then she even came to my yoga class with me one day. My mom is the best, and I love her so much!

3. The summer in Sacramento, California. Ok, so this is more than one experience, but it is definitely a summer that sticks out as unique for us. For me, it was basically a summer full of exercising, yoga, swimming, watching netflix, socializing and exercising some more. I went to the zoo, the pool almost every week probably, we went golfing, bowling, swimming, hot tubbing, camping in our living room, picnicking, you name it! I for one, did so many fun things, with lots of time to relax and just watch netflix too! Andre on the other hand worked long, hard days and weeks with some fun here and there. We had very different summers, but I think we can both say it was a summer to remember.

4. Visiting home in April. Basically anytime I get to go home to Prescott and spend time with my parents is a favorite experience of mine. I have such fun parents to hang out with! I love the conversations we have, the jokes my dad makes, the games we play, the food we eat, everything! One thing that sticks out to me from our trip in April is playing Boggle with mom and Andre. One of us must have said something super funny, or came up with a ridiculous word, and I just remember all 3 of us laughing our heads off for about 3 minutes. It was the hardest I have laughed in a long time. We also played a version of the newlywed game with my parents, and it was awesome! Then we went on a couple different hikes around Prescott and just enjoyed the great outdoors :)

5. I don't know if it's lame that 2 out of 5 experiences involve spending time in Prescott, and 3 out of 5 involve my mom, but what can I say? I guess we know what I love. haha For Christmas we went back to Prescott again. My parents showed us a bunch of the Christmas stuff around town, we got to spend Christmas day with all of my brothers with Eric on Skype, we played games, ate yummy food, drank hot chocolate in a freezing cold Ihop, and then I even got to spend some time with my life long bestie, Michelley! :) I love her so much, and it was so awesome seeing her and her daughters! Also, did I mention that this trip was a surprise for my dad and my little brother. My dad's reaction was priceless. It was so fun! :)

A Year of Love and Learning

This past year has been a whole new world for me. A year ago today, Andre and I got married! It's weird because when I think about that day, it seems like there's no way it was a whole year ago, but when I think about everything that has happened between then and now,  it's amazing! I can say I have learned a lot, but I can say even more confidently that I still have WAY more to learn. Seriously, marriage is an everyday learning process. If I have learned one thing from being married so far, it's that our home is a much happier place when we are both humble, forgiving and don't sweat the small stuff. I'd say I've definitely had to learn that the hard way and I've unfortunately had to drag Andre through it with me, but it has helped me to see how patient and caring he truly is. I can say the same things about him now as I said a year ago; Andre is one of the most patient, humble, selfless men I have ever known (the list could go on and on), and I am blessed times 1 million to be able to call him my husband for eternity :)