Winna Update!

Earlier in February, I posted that I won a CD from a blog giveaway from Keight Dukes on her blog Put Up Your Dukes. I was so excited because I NEVER win anything!! Now she is doing a giveaway for a gorgeous jewelry roll that she made- you should get on and check it out! (Which Keight, I believe I can now add an extra post because I just linked back to your blog- sweet! killing two birds with one stone here!)

The CD was Ryan Kiesshauer's and it was awesome! It is Christian worship music and I really loved it. All of the songs were really good, but I loved the piano/acoustic guitar duo in Not The End. To sum it up: It's not hard rock like Red and its not alternative like Reliant K and Hawk Nelson. It is a chill and beautiful worship CD. It has lots of acoustic guitar songs- which I love!! (Mom- you would absolutely love this CD too.)If you would like to sample songs or BUY the CD you can visit the website http://www.kiesshauer.com/

It is pretty awesome so I definitely recommend it!- and it's only 10 dollars!

Beginnings of a New Nursery and a New Outlook on Life

Update on everything!

Truck: Well, it turns out it is about 4,000 dollars worth of damages (or worth of fixing really). The labor and parts cost more than the damage done to the truck! Waiting to hear back from the guy's insurance company- a local Lawton insurance company. Hopefully, that is not going to be a bad thing.

26 weeks 5 days

Goodbye arms- my cut college athlete arms have been replaced by mom arms- sweet! The goal is to get them back along with a smaller waste-line and then try to get rid of my toddler-like chubby cheeks (courtesy of the pregnancy fat face) once Baby Darling gets here. I plan on going through our summer work-outs that we give our team and come back in (having had a baby) and still kick all of our players' butts. Stay tuned...

Goodbye feet. Getting to the point where vision of my feet has become a little bit harder.

But- most importantly! The beginnings of a nursery...... I know I have a baby shower coming up, and some people are visual people (allyson!) So, here are the nursery plans....

This is what it looks like as you enter the doorway
A glider will go in the far corner in between the swing and the small side table.
We both know that the swing will migrate out into the living room once our addition arrives, but for now it can stay in the baby room.

The gorgeous dresser that my poppy fixed up for me and ally when we were babies (and now repainted by my mom to match the baby furniture) is where all of the newborn clothes will go. Zach and I got a few little things at babies r us (my valentine's present was a baby shopping spree- woohoo! I had so much fun! :-)


Eventually the car seat will be moved into our cars and so the corner between the changing table and the dresser will be for the diaper genie (which better work its genie magic!) and perhaps the hamper.

The changing pad cover and diaper stacker are so cute! Underneath the changing table will be some storage bins for all things baby and then up top will either be pictures or more storage bins because mom has already taken over the baby closet. (I have too many clothes and shoes to share a closet with Zach- sue me!)

As you can see, the crib is totally functional. It holds lots of things- we will just have to move those things out once the baby gets here or he can just sleep on the floor with MJ. Totally kidding, don't turn me in to child services yet! The little hamper by the door is either going to be for dirty clothes or for toys.

Thank you Ally for the cute little picture frame- Baby Darling's pic has been put in the frame (although I probably could have left the other one in there- it looked like the exact same picture!...weird)

Grammy, the license plate matches the colors of the room perfectly and we are definitely going to put it up on the wall so Baby Darling will remember Papa. Now all we need is a big FORD sign!

With all of the money that goes along with all things baby, it is easy to get overwhelmed and stressed- "how are we going to pay for this" or potential job stress for next year (I will not be able to work in the fitness center because of the hours- so we will lose that section of money). So to ease our fears and stress, God called us out on Sunday.

Philippians 4:6-7 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

This was part of our Sunday school lesson and God totally called us out- especially me- by saying "seriously? you don't control anything, I do, remember? I will provide- you just need to sit back and chill out." I'm sure he said it just like that :-)

So, a new outlook on life: I will stop worrying. Everything will work out just how God wants it, whether that's the way we want it or not. He will provide, and my efforts to control every aspect of everything are futile anyway- so stop worrying!!! Easier said than done- but that is my goal- especially over the next few months.

Fender Bender

Well this weekend was pretty nice and uneventful until..... Sunday afternoon. Zach and I went out to eat at after church and then I dropped him off at the house so I could go get some more hangers at Walmart (because we have WAY too many clothes). So I took his truck and on the way, there was a light that was blinking red- which means stop sign! So I slowed to a stop like a NORMAL person would do....

You can't really tell in this picture but the bumper is resting on the exhaust pipes= not good

And then I got hit from behind by a big Dodge truck (equivalent to an F-250. Not sure what dodge calls it). It scared the crap out of me because he hit me really hard and knocked me forward. It wasn't bad enough to deploy the airbags or anything, but it hurt my back being whipped forward. It's ok today, just a little sore.


The guy was really nice and apologetic. He was very adamant that it was totally his fault because he was not paying attention. After dealing with all of that, you think to yourself- if only I had gone inside to go to the bathroom first. Or, if only I had gone down Gore instead of Ferris. All these things go through your head. Even if it wasn't my fault at all, this is still something that we have to deal with and put time into.

But then you think- well, if I had decided to take my little car instead, it probably would have been annihilated by his big truck. I could have actually been hurt and the car could have been totaled which would have been the worst thing ever! Zach's truck is pretty indestructible because it was quite an impact and it really only messed up the bumper, the bumper mount brackets, and the tail pipes- so not too bad considering how hard he hit me.

So, all in all- God knows best! We got an estimate at the Ford Dealership which came in close to 3,000 and I will go get another estimate later this afternoon.

I spent the rest of Sunday cleaning and organizing to try to get this house ready to post pictures for those of you who haven't seen it! I promise, the pictures are coming! But, with only one day a week to work on the house, it is a SLOW process!

Kickin' it at LHS Senior Night

Last night was senior night at Lawton High School and apparently Baby Darling was either really angry about it or really happy 'cause he was kicking up a storm- there is a video of it below but unless you are me or Zach you probably won't think it's that interesting~

Zach is out in the middle presenting roses to the moms

Zach had a JV game that was supposed to start at 4:30. We had a recruit in from Corpus Christi but I had a little break from about 4-6 (she went to hang out with the team before we took her to dinner) so I was excited that I would get to see his game. WRONG! They were really far behind and it didn't start until 5:20 or so. I got to see almost all of the first half though. Unfortunately they lost... the other team was pretty good and rather large- not a good combination unless you are them~

Senior Night was done really well. I wish they would have announced more about each player instead of just their name and parents. At Woodward they announced important stats, where they are going to school, if they are playing in college, etc.

All of the seniors started- and I think all of them scored too

At about halftime I had to leave- I felt so bad! I was exhausted. I had the early 6am shift two days in a row, a big test yesterday afternoon, and lots of shmoozing with the recruit in town (it takes a lot out of you!). So I ended up heading home to get in bed at 9:30 and passed out! They lost to Broken Arrow that night.

This is a video of Baby Darling kicking me. There is a little flutter at 20 seconds and then he starts up a little stronger at 40 seconds. It's all on the right side of my stomach. It was the first time I saw him kick me through my clothes. (This is apparently what keeps me entertained during warmups- video taping my stomach!)

Disclaimer::: This is probably really boring to most everyone out there- sorry! But it's probably the strangest and coolest feeling in the world to be kicked by something inside of you - And I think its cool and I do the posts, so get over it! Big picture: I'm making a human in there and every little thing that happens along the way is pretty cool for Zach and me!

Pamoja Tunaweza

For those of you who want to help....

One of my good friends, who I played volleyball with in college was saved this past year and Jesus is changing her life one day at a time! Her name is Leah Thomson. It is a pretty awesome thing for her and right now she is working on going back to Africa this summer on a mission. She is trying to raise money to go and has started a blog in order to spread the word (http://leahthomson.blogspot.com/) . She is an amazing person and you can really see Christ working in her life. I told her that I would help spread the word by posting this on my blog. Please give it a look and if you would like to help her just leave her a comment on one of her posts to let her know that you would like to help.

Isaiah 6:8
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!" If you can, please help Leah fulfill what the Lord is calling her to do!

Love Day 2010

Valentine's Day 2010-

Got up and went to Sunday School. This is the first time we visited this class and we really enjoyed it. Pastor Shane came and visited with us Thursday night and we absolutely LOVE him and LOVE this church. So, I think we have finally found a church home here in Lawton.


After church we got in the car and headed to "the city" (Oklahoma City). We have turned in to those people that are the poor lost souls of a small town who need the booming metropolis to get anything accomplished. It's sad that "the city" refers to the one and only Oklahoma City- there are no other big cities. It's also sad that Oklahoma City is a booming metropolis- especially when talking to Zach and me (one from Dallas and one from Atlanta)- it's a little different to say the least.

Zach is probably the easiest person to buy for. Dr. Pepper is the key to his heart- all other gifts are just icing on the cake. We both decided that we would much rather spend our money on eating out at a nice restaurant than on stupid Valentine's Day gifts like boxes of chocolate (I only like the ones that taste like snickers anyway- so why not just buy a snickers??)

M.J. got a bone for Valentine's Day.

Look at that sad face begging for some love.

25 weeks, two days.
I really loved this shirt- but now I see that I look ginormous in it! Awesome :)

We went out to eat at the Cheesecake factory and it was absolutely WONDERFUL!! So delicious! Then we went shopping at Babies R Us and got a few little things for Baby Darling.

Came home and then ate Cheesecake factory leftovers- but Zach wanted cheese grits with his. What is up with him and cheese grits? I swear he could eat them every meal of every day!

All in all, a success. Low-key, food, shopping, candy, and Dr. Pepper? Can't get much better than that!

Throw Back Night and Berry/Reinhardt

On Tuesday my dad had a big game against Gilmer Co. They decided to do a throw-back night. They had the SHORT shorts, sweat bands, tube socks and everything. Dad- I think you could have found some shorter shorts- I've seen pictures of you playing and they were much shorter!

As a coach, you always hope that these things don't backfire on you and you end up losing because the kids are totally unfocused. But, good news- they ended up winning 61-41, and drew a big crowd too!


I cannot even muster up the words for how funny this is! I love it! I totally wish I was there to see it!





Now...

if only I could have witnessed these boys in some throw-back outfits! That would have officially made my life!

Zach and Jake at Berry

Jake and Zach vs. Aaron and Adam (Berry vs. Reinhardt)
The Darling Boys