The U File

the birds

2012-01-18T20:39:00.005-05:00

The past couple of days have been kind of "bleh" around the Uebel house. I'm not going to list all the reasons why because complaining never got anybody anywhere so you'll just have to trust me on this one.

Anyways, around 1 o'clock today I was in a foul mood and typically what that means is the rest of my day is destined for ruin as well. I decided to take Sadie to Chick-Fil-A for lunch because 1) I didn't feel like heating anything up and 2) let's be honest, who doesn't feel a teensy bit happier after eating a box full of chicken nuggets. As we sit down, I start shredding Sadie's chicken into bite sized pieces and Sadie starts making friends with the couple beside us. Now normally I would encourage such behavior in my child but today was one of those days where I just wanted to sulk in my own misery and not care about anyone else (I'm a great example for my kid, I know, I know). Well, you probably already know who won that battle. I was forced into having a conversation with the couple, through gritted teeth mind you, and Sadie gained a couple new fans.

A few minutes after they left, Sadie proceeded to stare out the window, for what seemed like 20 minutes. Of course in my head I'm saying, "Geesh kid, can't you just hurry up and eat?" but I finally give in and turn to see what all the fuss is about. To my surprise, I see two seagulls circling the parking lot, looking for food I assume, and almost immediately I am repentant.

Here I am feeling terribly sorry for me, myself, and I and there's a whole world just beyond my fingertips longing for redemption. There are millions of people around the world hurting, suffering from things far worse than my little problems, and all I can think about is me. I let a few bad things steal my joy and I'd forgotten about the simple things in life that bring my one year old such joy. For her, those seagulls are incredible, almost mystical creatures that soar through a big blue sky of even more beauty.

She couldn't take her eyes off those birds after that. And believe it or not I was ok with that. I'm sure I'll sulk again one day, shoot maybe it'll even be tomorrow, but whenever the pity party strikes I pray it will be a little bit shorter than today's and I'll look up a little bit quicker.

P.S. I'm sorry random couple in Chick-Fil-A for being short with you. I'm glad my baby forces me to see Jesus when I need him and I hope she pointed you to him too.

A few fun Sadie pics and videos

2012-01-14T20:33:00.005-05:00

I have a few posts brewing in my head but for now I thought I'd post what the masses really want anyway, you're welcome Mom.

Everybody loves a little Chipotle every now and then.

Earlier this week we had some pretty mild weather so we took advantage of it and went for a walk. This picture is taken with Instagram, did I mention that I love Instagram?

We're trying out a new hairstyle. Nic says it makes her hair look longer, I say it makes her look more like a toddler (*sniffle*).

And finally a video of Sadie taking her first bite of ice cream. We took her to ChickFilA for lunch and well, this speaks for itself (see right around 7 secs).

Happy First Birthday!

2011-12-29T20:22:00.004-05:00

Dear Sadie Elizabeth,

As of 1:17 this afternoon you are officially a one year old! It's crazy to think that a whole year has passed since you graced us with your presence. Sometimes I honestly have a hard time remembering life before you.

You're not walking yet but if we coax you you've been known to take a few steps from the coffee table to mom or dad's arms. You push your cart around with confidence, you just have to work on the whole balance thing. You are quite a fearless, thrill seeking baby too (which I find quite humorous since your momma is so NOT adventurous). Your favorite activity is to crawl on top of/into any box, laundry basket, or toy bin you see.

Lately we've been letting you climb the stairs (with our assistance of course) and you would think someone told you that you won the baby lottery. You get this mischievous smile on your face like "Really, I can really do this?" and you move like lightning. You get that same mischievous smile by the way whenever you stick your hand in Mabel's water dish or take things out of the kitchen drawers but that's beside the point :).

There are times during the day when you babble like crazy. Your friend Kristal taught you how to talk on the phone. You'll talk into anything now, elephant, spoon, Tigger, you're not picky. You're also learning to imitate us really well. You're the one initiating peek a boo now and you turn the pages of a book with ease.

As far as food goes you're starting to get a bit pickier. You're wising up to the fact that vegetables don't always taste as "good" as other foods. You do love you some bread though. And cheese. You're crazy about a grilled cheese or a cheese quesadilla. You've taken after your dad with a love for all things Mexican too!

You're still a super social baby and love interactions with other people. Sometimes at restaurants you get so distracted by people that you won't even eat! You got lots of toys for Christmas and you're starting to really play with them. Your new favorite word is "uh-oh" and I have to admit sometimes I push things off the coffee table just to hear you say it!

I'll miss writing these posts. It's been a great way to capture your first year (i.e this is your version of a baby book) but I probably won't write another post like this till you're two (or at least 18 months). We love you so much little girl and I am in awe of how much you've grown and changed this year. Here's to looking forward to the many more birthdays to come, lord willing!

Photo Dump

2011-12-29T10:56:00.006-05:00

Did I mention I got an Iphone for my birthday last month? I'm in love. I don't think I'd say I'm obsessed but I certainly enjoy it a lot! I just imported a TON of photos from the past month onto my computer so I figured I'd share a few of my favorites.

p.s. Today is Sadie's first birthday, expect a birthday post soon!

My parents got Sadie this wagon/scooter for Christmas. She was all smiles pushing the buttons and riding around Christmas morning.

Speaking of Christmas morning, my parents also got Sadie a sled (perhaps one day soon we'll see snow). She was quite content to let my dad push her around the house in that thing. I think she would've ridden in it from here till kingdom come if I hadn't made her give Papa a break!

My mom & I took Sadie to a park one day while we were in Lynchburg. Sadie enjoyed the see saw immensely. I think we've got a little thrill seeker on our hands.

I don't even remember but it's a cute baby face :).

On the eve of her birthday we took Sadie out for Japanese. Last year on the eve of her birth I had Chinese food (not a good choice in retrospect) so we decided it might be a fun new tradition to have some kind of Asian themed cuisine to celebrate her birthday eve each year!

Meet Lydia. She belongs to my friends Emily & Seth and she is the sweetest little thing! Notice where Sadie is in this picture, hopefully she didn't teach Lydia too many bad habits :).

Speaking of bad habits, this is what we find Sadie doing AT LEAST once a day. She can get in by herself but she hasn't quite figured out how to get out :).

Who doesn't love a baby reindeer? I think we were headed to the BCM Christmas Banquet??

There's this mini trail behind our house that leads to a big clearing. We love to go up there and let Mabel run around, I think Sadie loves the view.

For the past two years we've made The Pioneer Woman's cinnamon rolls for Christmas. I think we can now call it an annual tradition. This year our friends Robbie & Kristal helped us make them and it made the whole process that much more fun! On a side note, please excuse me looking a bit rough, it was late and let's be honest I haven't worn a lot of makeup this winter break :).

Good Reads

2011-12-20T20:56:00.005-05:00

I just finished a great book today and it seems like anytime I do that I immediately start thinking about what to read next. Hence why my Amazon wishlist grew from two to ten items tonight. The book I finished was Practicing the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence and I can not recommend it enough! It's a short, fast read (i was done in a couple of days) and it's packed full of good advice that I can, need, and WILL apply to my life right now.

As for my wish list here are a few of my top choices:

1. One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. I actually bought this as a Christmas present for someone without having read it first (which is highly unusual for me) but I've heard such good things about it that I was confident in my purchase!

2. Out of the Spin Cycle by Jen Hatmaker. I read one of her other books a while back and really liked it. This one is a 40 day devotional so I think I'm actually going to do this for the Lenten season, it's a perfect fit!

3. House of Prayer No. 2 by Mark Richard. I'm a sucker for memoirs and apparently this is one of the top selling memoirs of 2011 (have I been living under a rock you ask? no I had a baby). It's about a boy who grows up in the 1960's in the South (tobacco country VA, Franklin to be exact). According to one critic it's a "heady Gothic mix of racial tension and religious fervor."

For now I'm off to read!

Happy Eleven Months!

2011-12-03T11:20:00.004-05:00

Dear Sadie,

Next time I write this you'll be a year old. I can't help but think back to last year at this time and celebrate how grateful I am that you're here with us now! Christmasy stuff is so much more fun with you!

You crawl at warp speed now. You're also officially cruising around the coffee table and moving from one piece of furniture to another. I get the feeling we may have a walker on our hands sometime in the next month or so. You love to crawl in and through things (i.e. the dining room chairs); give you an obstacle course and you're there. You've also been known to take a few baths in Mabel's water bowl.

You love to be outside. For some reason you've been enamored by leaves. That's the first thing you crawl to when you're outside and you'll crunch them for hours if we'd let you. Your best friend is still Mabel (though I doubt she'd say the same). You have absolutely no fear of dogs. Over Thanksgiving (which we went to Cincinnati for by the way) there were 3 dogs at Gram's house and you would crawl right into the middle of the pack.

You're trying a little of everything these days when it comes to food. Lately you've been eating whatever mom & dad have for dinner. You're starting to develop a few food preferences too, you absolutely love bread and oranges (which I find funny since I craved all things orange during my pregnancy) but you could go without any green veggies.

You love to go shopping with mom. You sit in the shopping cart and smile at every person you see. It's almost like a game for you, if someone notices you, it's one point, if they smile, it's worth two! You change your tune pretty quickly when they come near though, you like to admire them at a distance!

We love you little girl & we're excited to celebrate your big day this time next month!

Why Thanksgiving?

2011-11-18T12:53:00.003-05:00

I read this quote on this blog and it literally made me laugh out loud.

"also: i was trying to explain halloween to some of my esl students (they were super, super confused by it) and we actually had some great discussions about cultural vs. religious holidays and i shared my own dislike of the creepiness of it all and i emphasized that it was NOT christian or religious at all but we still went over what it was all about so they would know. and i just could not convey what “trick or treating” was–all the students just stared uncomprehendingly. and then one guy, a ukrainian fellow, said “oh, yes yes we have this in my country. except in my country we say ‘give me all your money or i kill you’”. and then everyone in the class said: “ooooooooooh, yes yes, now we understand”. and as frantically as i tried to convey otherwise, i think they left the class all pretty freaked out by the little kids in their costumes, just waiting to mug them. oh, america."

It made me laugh because it's so true. I'm not knocking on Halloween, I had a lot of fun taking Sadie trick or treating. I'm laughing because sometimes I think we take things for granted because well "that's just what we've always done."

Last week my language partner asked me why we celebrate Thanksgiving. I seriously had to rack my brain to think of the answer. All I could think were indians, pilgrims, Plymouth Rock, Mayflower or wait is it the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria? I could not put any of those words together to make a cohesive answer. Needless to say I left that conversation thinking I need to do a little research. But seriously, we don't talk about that stuff after like fourth grade and that saying is true, if you don't use it you lose it. Looks like I don't need to be auditioning for Are you smarter than a 5th grader any time soon! For now you'll find me scanning Wikipedia for the real reason behind Thanksgiving.

Happy Ten Months!

2011-11-07T19:56:00.005-05:00

Dear Sadie-

It's a little late but happy 10 month birthday! You are well on your way to becoming a true toddler. You're pulling up to a stand and sort of cruising from toy basket to toy basket. You are all about getting into anything you can reach these days. You're learning the word no, learning being the key word there. You've started shaking your head no a lot lately too. Sometimes you even do it after we say the actual word "no" but then again you also do it when music is playing and whenever you feel like it really :).

You caught your first cold this month. I felt bad for you but we knew it was bound to happen some time. It seems that colds are ten thousand times worse in little babies, they make your entire chest rattle and they last for weeks on end. Hopefully the winter ahead won't bring too many more of those.

You have become quite the little foodie. Most of the time you're willing to try whatever Dad & I are eating, especially if we're out at a restaurant. Some of your more unique foods have included: hummus, salsa, and enchiladas. We've tried giving you your milk in a cup but you cling to your bottle pretty hard. I'm afraid the switch to whole milk in a couple of months will have to include dropping the bottle, cold turkey.

You love music. You've learned to clap and now whenever you hear music you clap. You're also starting to wave at people. You absolutely REFUSE to leave your bows in your hair and I have to admit this makes me a little bit sad. Even after you pull the bow out, you feel your head another twenty times just to make sure it's gone! Even without the bow you're still SO stinking cute and we love you very much!

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T20:40:00.002-05:00

I'm a few days behind on the 10 month post- we were out of town this weekend but I promise it's coming this week. Here are a few pictures of Sadie in her Halloween costume to hold you over till then :).

the plague

2011-10-10T07:00:00.003-05:00

Last week I got hit by what I have affectionately termed "the plague." I suppose I should give a proper medical diagnosis and tell you the doctor called it a "winter virus." All I know is I was sick, sicker than I've been in a LONG time sick. Nic was a superhero and took care of two babies (yes one of those babies is me). If this wasn't the flu, I don't want to know what the flu is. Once I'm back to feeling 100% myself I will be the first person in line at my local CVS for a flu shot. This is just a suggestion but I highly recommend you're second in line.

Now for the lighthearted stuff (and no more public service announcements I promise). We bought Sadie this DVD. It kept popping up on blogs I read, magazines, etc. so I gave in and bought it. I don't want to be a helicopter, overbearing parent so I've told myself one DVD is ok. It really is amazing how fascinated Sadie is by it. It's the only thing that will capture her attention for more than two minutes at a time. Basically they just repeat the letter over and over again; in a way it's kind of trippy but I see how it could work. According to Preschool Prep (the maker of the DVD) "Meet the Letters is a powerful tool designed to teach babies and toddlers the alphabet during an opportune window of time when they are learning to talk." I"ll let you know how it turns out.

Speaking of things holding Sadie's attention, we found this video courtesy of our friends (who are also parents) a while back, and Sadie has just recently been mesmerized by it. She has also learned to clap her hands so maybe we have a potential musician on our hands? Enjoy some Will.i.am for now!

Happy Nine Months!

2011-10-02T12:25:00.005-05:00

Dear Sadie-

You are quite your own little person nowadays. Over the past month you've become quite the master at crawling. There's no such thing as giving you a five second head start any more; if we did you'd be tumbling down the stairs or pulling anything you can reach on top of you! You've learned to appreciate this new freedom pretty fast too. You're not such a fan of activities that limit your freedom any more (i.e. getting your diaper changed, changing your clothes, sitting for long periods of time).

You're still super social. You laugh when other people laugh and you love to stare at people's faces/reactions. You absolutely LOVE other kids, the moment I drop you off in the nursery you're crawling around and reaching for the other kids like they're your best friend. Baby is still your best friend though, despite the fact you often throw her down on the ground and right in the path of the stroller.

You're attempting to pull up on furniture but so far you only pull up to your knees. That's just far enough to reach everything on the coffee table. Because of that, the remote control has found a temporary home on the bookcase. You have six teeth now and despite a bit of fussiness you've taken it like a champ. Speaking of being a champ, you were a road warrior this month! You were in the car for 12 hours over a 72 hour time period to go to Louisville to celebrate Uncle Randy & Aunt Sam's wedding!

You're also no longer a vegetarian! We finally got up enough nerve to open the can of pureed meats. You've also had a little bit of yogurt, cheese, and bread. You love sweet potato puffs- they are a great way to keep you happy and content if there's even a hint of fussiness.

Your smile and laugh continue to melt my heart. You are such a sweet baby and I'm so thankful to call you my daughter!

Fantasy Football Thoughts

2011-09-28T08:00:00.001-05:00

I'm enjoying playing fantasy football a lot more than I thought I would (despite the fact I got crushed this week). I must say though I'm amazed at how easily frustrated I get with "my players" when they have a bad week. Like Philip Rivers this week- come on buddy, 6.44 points TOTAL?

Anyways it made me think about some controversy stirred up by top Fantasy Football Draft Pick, Arian Foster, back in August. After having to leave the game because of an injury, Arian tweeted the following: “4 those sincerely concerned, I'm doing ok & plan 2 B back by opening day. 4 those worried abt your fantasy team, u ppl are sick.” In a final message to clear the air he tweeted: "I know opinions are usually cement. But, I love all my fans. My quarrel is with people who value a digital game over a humans health. #love""

When I first read this back in August all I could think was "He's so right, those people treat him like a possession instead of a person" but now that I've played fantasy for a few weeks I see how easy it is to get all caught up in it. I certainly don't want to dehumanize these players but I'm finding in order to do that I have to be careful about how I even talk about them. I have to remind myself that I don't hold the rights to these guys and they don't care who I am in the first place!

Any who, who would've thought five years ago I'd be blogging about sports? My how times have changed. It seems marriage has a funny way of doing that. And besides, I have a better fantasy football record right now than my husband :), a girl's gotta gloat some times right?

Two Things Tuesday

2011-09-27T08:00:00.003-05:00

1) Nic and I were both sick last week and we saw this weekend as an opportunity to recover. As a result of said "recovery time" we watched a lot of TV this weekend. So when I tell you I've become addicted to yet another show you can at least understand why and sympathize with me at least just a little bit. Based on a friend's Facebook recommendation we started watching Parenthood and I got hooked fast. I stayed up late (I'm talking past midnight) to watch all the episodes Hulu had available. The only bad thing is now I'm scared to death for Sadie to grow up! Can we just skip the whole teenager/young adult phase?

2) I made granola yesterday. It's Alton Brown's granola recipe and I'm convinced it's the best out there. For some reason I equate the smell of maple syrup and oats with fall. Friday was the first official day of fall and I've been waiting for it to "feel like fall" ever since then. What's up with all this high humidity in September? This is Virginia not Louisiana. Bring on the cardigans and hoodies please!

For all you Sadie fans

2011-09-20T07:55:00.001-05:00

In case you're wondering there's a tennis ball underneath the laundry basket. Yes we like to "torment" our dog for the sake of our baby's entertainment. You gotta admit it's pretty funny though!

the Mondays

2011-09-19T15:22:00.004-05:00

I think I've got a case of the Mondays. It's overcast here and we haven't seen the sun in a few days so I think everybody is dragging today. I found this article over on Relevant Magazine today and I think it probably communicates much more clearly and eloquently my thoughts from my last post.

I do want to say that I know my last post has the potential to be considered selfish. I've been wrestling with selfishness a lot lately. One thing I've learned since becoming a mom is just how self-centered I am. It makes me appreciate my own mom that much more (thanks for putting up with me mom if you're reading this :)! I do really believe though that by taking time for myself to enjoy life I will be a better mom, wife, campus minister, and every other role I play in the long run.

Oh well, gotta run for now, I've got a crying baby who's vying for my attention, more thoughts on this later!

You gotta choose: spontaneity or busyness?

2011-09-15T10:35:00.003-05:00

Sometimes I'm full of brilliant things to say and I'm amazed at how wise I sound (note the sarcasm here) but sometimes I eat those very words.

Back in the spring I had a conversation with some college gals about spontaneity. I encouraged them to look for opportunities to get away from their schedules and simply participate in something that brings them joy. They all laughed at me and said "Ok let me just pull out my planner and schedule a time for that." To be honest I put the thought aside since summer was coming and the pace of life slows down significantly for campus ministry. But now that we're back to the busy season I'm wondering what I did with my own advice?

I hate saying I'm too busy because the truth is, life is always busy and everyone is busy. I think, let me restate that, I know, that I use that excuse way too often. Sometimes I think I even pride myself on the fact that I'm busy. It's like there's some kind of unspoken social hierarchy based on how busy you are. If you're not doing anything, something has to be wrong with you, at least that's how I treat it.

But when we're so busy scheduling life we don't have time to simply enjoy it. Before long we're worn down, overwhelmed, and fed up with it all (aka how I'm starting to feel). Don't get me wrong I know life requires a schedule, nothing would ever get done if we did whatever we wanted all day long but I'm also realizing that there may be some things I just have to let go. If the laundry sits in the washing machine for a few days it's ok, it's nothing that another little spin around the washer won't take care of. Instead of fretting about "what I should be doing" or "need to do" I'm going to try and find some time to enjoy life, whether it's 5 minutes or 5 hours. If it's blogging, sitting outside with a cup of coffee, going for a run, or zumba-ing, I've got to do something. After all my sanity and the sanity of those around me depends on it. What do you do to find joy in the middle of this busy life?

Happy Eight Months!

2011-08-29T10:14:00.007-05:00

Dear Sadie,

Today you are eight months old! Dad keeps reminding me that's two thirds of a year - man where does the time go? People keep saying you look older now too, more like a toddler than a baby, but to me you're still a sweet little baby!

You've learned how to do so much this month. It's like everyday you learn a new skill. I think we're ready to say you are officially crawling. The "official" came when we realized how much baby proofing we have to do around this place. You are so aware of everything these days. There's no such thing as sneaking away anymore, if mom & dad come in a room it's guaranteed you'll see them & you expect to be acknowledged by them too.

You babble all the time now too. Sometimes I think the only time you're quiet is when you eat and sleep. You're certainly learning the consonant sounds and we *think* you might be starting to say "mama." You're very social and like to smile at most people, although you have been known to give a few mean stares occasionally :). Lately you've been pretty attached to your baby doll. This is the only toy I've seen you cry over if it's within sight but out of your reach.

You still haven't tried any meats yet. Mom & Dad can't bring themselves to open the can or simply blend up some chicken. There's just something about the idea of pureed meats, ick, it just seems wrong, oh well that'll come one day I suppose. You added another tooth to your collection this month too, one on top, which brings the total up to three.

We love you lots little girl!

A little love to spread around

2011-08-15T20:17:00.004-05:00

It's been a busy few weeks around these parts. Unfortunately it's not been the best of days for all of us. This little beauty got fleas.

Despite a monthly application of Frontline, the little blood suckers (gross I know) somehow made their way onto poor Mabel. According to our vet, "There have been some reported cases of fleas in the area that are resistant to Frontline." Luckily it's not a terrible outbreak. We've given her a couple of flea baths and vacuumed our house more in the past couple of weeks than we have all year (ok maybe I exaggerate a little bit, but not much). I couldn't help but feel a little guilty when we found out though. I told Mabel I hoped she didn't feel like the only way to get our attention these days is to have a parasite. Poor pup!

In other totally unrelated news we got a letter from our Compassion child last week and it brought tears to my eyes. This has got to be one of the sweetest things ever. Gersam wrote (from the translator's perspective), "He is so thankful for your letter. He doesn't have any sisters or brothers but your daughter (Sadie) is his sister. He is happy to learn that you have a daughter. Congratulations!!" Is that not the most precious thing ever? I'm always amazed at how God reveals himself to me in the most unexpected ways!

Happy Seven Months!

2011-07-29T20:42:00.005-05:00

Dear Sweet Sadie-

Another month has come and gone. You're closer now to being a one year old than you are a little bitty baby and sometimes that makes me sad! You are at such a fun age right now that I sometimes wish I could freeze time. As you can tell from your picture your hair is laying totally flat these days (bye bye mohawk) and if you don't have a bow in your hair (which is rare) it looks like you need a haircut. Your bald spot is finally starting to grow back in because....

You are rarely laying on your back these days. You're sitting up on your own, rolling all over the place, and even starting to scoot around. You are so close to being able to crawl, especially if Mabel is around! When we put you down on the floor to go get something, we return only to find you in the exact opposite corner we left you. You got your two bottom teeth this month (they're still coming in) basically at the same time. Other than a pretty rough morning at church one week (shout out to all those patient & loving childcare workers) you've tolerated it pretty well. Just a few doses of Tylenol every now and then.

I'm hoping you turn out to be a great musician like your dad because lately you've taken a serious interest in all things musical. Whenever your dad pulls out the guitar you stare in amazement and like to play a few chords (rather pull on the strings till they're out of tune). You're enamored by the music at church every week too. We've been taking you to a Water Babies class this month and you have loved it! Lately you are squealing with delight by the end of the class. You've even been under water a few times. You especially enjoy watching all the other kids in you class.

We're looking forward to many more adventures with you this month. The next one, meat! Until next time- we love you lots!

A Guest Post & some randomness

2011-07-19T14:59:00.005-05:00

Last week I blogged over at [nlcf] downtown women (in case you find yourself with a little bit of free time on your hands). The battle with insecurity by all means isn't over but I'm chugging along.

And now for the randomness:

source

1) I got so excited at Kroger today when I saw the expiration date on my gallon of milk was August 1. Hooooray!! August will be here oh so soon and that means students come back! Oh how I miss me some students. I worked the VTIC (VT Interfaith Council) booth at orientation this morning and marveled at how young all the freshmen look and how old that makes me feel.

source

2) I also found Phineas & Ferb fruit snacks at Kroger today (notice a theme in my life) and almost bought them except for the fact that they were $3.50 for a pack of 10(let me emphasize that again, THREE FIFTY!!!). I admit it, I may have a new found love for this cartoon. I will also admit that at times when I need to get something done I put my baby in front of the TV and go about my business, don't judge me. However when your baby goes down for a nap and you find yourself still watching Phineas & Ferb two hours later you may have a problem.

source

3) Speaking of insecurity, I picked up Beth Moore's So Long Insecurity from my bookshelf and decided to finish it this time. It is rocking my world in good but tough ways. I highly recommend it to any woman of any age.

First World Problems

2011-07-06T21:26:00.011-05:00

Last night I said something really dumb. I knew it was dumb the moment it left my lips but I said it anyway. We were driving to small group, with my water bottle in hand, and I looked at Nic and said "I hate the taste of water. If it only tasted better, then I'd drink more of it." Now before you start calling me overly dramatic and move on to the next blog, watch the video below.

When I came across this the other night I laughed hysterically, showed it to Nic, and laughed some more. It's ok to laugh at it, it's meant to be funny, but I think there's a whole lot of truth to what this kid is saying too. And that brings us back to the water conversation.

I've been trying to drink more water lately. Well, I've been trying to drink more water most of my life. I'd much rather have lemonade, Diet Pepsi, sweet tea, coffee, Diet Dr. Pepper, or really anything OTHER than water. And last night is not the first time I've complained about it either but as soon as I said it this time I thought about this video.

I thought about how I take for granted that my water is safe to drink with no threat of bacteria, disease, or even death because of it. I thought about how I can walk to the faucet as many times a day as I'd like and get as much water as I'd like to without ever walking multiple miles out of my way to get enough clean water for my family's daily needs. And then it happened I realized just how insignificant my complaint was in the grand scheme of things. I realized how I should be praising God for this bottle in front of me instead of grumbling about it's contents. To "be joyful always" applies to every aspect of my life even drinking water.

So pass the next glass of water my way and if you hear me start to complain feel free to give me a swift kick in the pants. Cheers!

Happy Six Months!

2011-07-05T11:43:00.006-05:00

Dear Sadie Elizabeth,

I'm a little late on this one. We were on vacation last week & though we did find time to take your picture on a beach towel in honor of it all I didn't find time to write. Your dad & I were looking at a bunch of old pictures of you the other day and man have you changed. You're quite the little person now too :).

You continue to be right at average for your weight on the growth charts and you top them off in height. The doctor said it seems like you're going to be tall and skinny. You've gotten the whole eating solid foods down pretty well now. You seem to be a fan of most vegetables and fruits, although if you had it your way we'd get rid of green peas altogether.

You went to two weddings this month and looked super cute in your little dresses while you were at it. I must say you behaved pretty well at both too, especially considering it was way out of your routine. You continue to be a really good natured baby and seem to adapt to new situations fairly well. You love to smile at people and observe everything around you. Your favorite "being" to watch is Mabel. I don't think anyone can captivate your attention quite as well as her.

You've started sitting up without assistance, although we like to keep the pillows around just in case. You babble all the time now too. The name of your pink giraffe has become quite the debate between your dad and me lately, he votes "Bubba", I say "Jo." I think you ended the debate today though when you started to make noises like "buuuubbbaaa." Way to be a daddy's girl :).

Like I mentioned earlier, you went to the beach for the first time this month. You were pretty apprehensive of the ocean at first but by the end of the week you were squealing in delight as the waves crashed around you. You loved having the attention of all your grandparents too. You're quite the little ham and enjoy a good round of applause in your honor!

Even with your diva-like traits your mom & dad love you very very much. It's hard to believe you've been around a half a year but some times I can't remember what life was like before you. We can't wait to see what the next half of the year holds!

Self-Absorption

2011-06-23T13:00:00.007-05:00

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I've been wrestling with the idea of self-absorption lately. All of the small groups at our church are going through this 8 week long study called The Tangible Kingdom. A couple of days ago the day's lesson asked us to "Spend some time today in a busy place. Simply sit still and look at the faces that go past you. Imagine some of the things that might make up their life stories. Pray for them." As I sat contemplating (insert whining) about how this wasn't possible, since a small child was under my care and watchful eye, it hit me "Listen to yourself April. All you care about is me, myself, and I. When was the last time you actually cared about the people around you?"

According to the US Census Bureau there are almost 7 billion people living in the world today, 300 million of them live in the US. I make up 1/7 billion and my immediate family makes up 3/7 billion, I don't even want to attempt the math when it comes to getting that into decimal form. Somehow though I continue to live like the other 6,999,999,999 don't exist. Why is that?

I know my family is important and God has called me to take care of them. I also know there's no possible way for me to get to know or even attempt to know all the people on this planet, but where do I find the balance? Lately I've been so concerned about all the things I want to get done, or what my baby needs, or what would be best for my family that I've completely forgotten about everyone else. So I know what I'm doing isn't right, but how do I know when it's ok to guard time with my family and when I need to just give it a rest and go hang out with friends/neighbors? How do I teach my baby that she's important to me but she's not the end all be all for our family?

Last night one of the guys in our small group shared that he felt like God was saying the same thing to him lately. He said he felt like God was specifically saying to him "Stop looking in the mirror and start looking out the window." My prayer yesterday, today, and for a long time honestly, is that God would open my eyes up to see what He sees and that not only would I see but I would respond to what he's showing me. No more ignoring people because I don't want to make them uncomfortable (or let's be honest here, make myself uncomfortable), no more "to do" lists that make me so focused on all the things I have to do, that I don't stop to see God working in the faces around me.

Expect similar posts as this revelation continues to unfold, I'm not ignorant in thinking I won't continue to struggle with this the rest of my life, but I am hopeful that God can change my heart. Feel free to pass on any advice you've learned along the way too. I certainly know I'm not the only one trying to figure this whole "how to live life" thing.

The Infamous Pity Party

2011-06-10T13:26:00.002-05:00

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I know how to throw a good party. A pity party that is. It starts out something like this "Nothing ever goes my way" or "Nobody likes me" and unfortunately it only goes down hill from there. Imagine for a second a snowball rolling down one of the Rocky Mountains, as it rolls it picks up more and more snow and by the time it's at the bottom it's gotten so big it can crush you. Welcome to my life.

Most of the time I love being a woman. I love the privilege of being a mom and a wife, doing girly things, and so so much more but there are times I literally despise it. Like when I'm alone with my thoughts and all my mind can dwell on is the negative. Don't get me wrong I recognize life is hard. People are messy. I'm messy. Lately I've found myself longing for the restoration that Jesus will bring when He returns to Earth. But I can not allow myself to keep living this way. The snowball is waiting.

God promises in 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 *coincidentally* enough is one of my memory verses so far this year. As I seek to move out of the way of the snowball or heck, get rid of it all together, I am realizing more and more I not only need to know God's promises but be willing to put them into action and BELIEVE them.

It's quite easy for me just to memorize them. There's a part of me (let's be honest there's a whole lot more than just a part), that loves the feeling you get when you accomplish something. If my husband would let me I honestly think I would put a star chart on my refrigerator recording every verse I memorize (identity or self worth problem you say? we'll save that for another post). But if I got a star for every time I applied those truths to my life and believed them, my chart would be empty. Unfortunately I let my emotions and feelings get in the way and before long I've completely forgotten what God has to say about it all. Lately my prayer has been that when those thoughts flood my mind I would look to Him first rather than that snowball. And maybe, just maybe, some day I'll throw a "no more pity parties" party.

Summer Loving

2011-06-02T18:31:00.005-05:00

It's summer time and the living's easy. At least that's how things go here in Blacksburg. It's sort of a ghost town with the large majority of Virginia Tech students scattered across the land for the summer. I have to admit it's not really my favorite time of year. A lot of "the locals" love it because you can park anywhere downtown without driving in circles for 3o minutes trying to find a spot, go to any restaurant you'd like with virtually no wait, and enjoy all the benefits of living in a small town. Besides the fact that there is no line at Chipotle (good for my tummy, bad for my wallet) I could care less about those things. I really enjoy having students around but I'm learning to appreciate life for where I am now and not where I think the grass is greener.

So here I sit on the "veranda" of our local Starbucks, enjoying the cool summer breeze with a little Matt Wertz streaming through my headphones.

(Forgive the lack of makeup and baseball cap friends, it's been a long day)

It's my weekly "me" time thanks to my precious husband and I'm blogging, what the heck? I did a little self evaluation last week and discovered writing is something that I actually really enjoy, whether I'm good at it or not is still up in the air. If you looked at my blog lately perhaps you wouldn't think that but life hasn't been quite what it used to be the past five months either (love you Sadie).

I watched a video by Jon Acuff a few weeks ago and he mentions the "all or nothing" principle that most bloggers adopt. He says they either commit to posting daily (which quickly gets overwhelming unless you're getting paid for it) or they leave their blog deserted for months on end, there's simply no happy medium.

Hello that's me, guilty as charged, as evidenced by my complete failure at the 100 joys challenge. So I'm stepping forward with a realistic goal this time. I'm *hopefully* making a commitment to blog one or two times a week from here on out. Maybe I'll even throw a few 100 joys posts into the mix. Who's excited? This girl.

Happy Five Months!

2011-05-29T21:04:00.004-05:00

My dear little Sadie,

These months come and go so quickly! You started eating solid foods this month and my oh my do you wear food well :)! You've picked up the whole "using a spoon thing" pretty quickly. So far you've had rice cereal, carrots, squash, and peas.

The first part of this month you had a daddy-daughter weekend (Friday night/Saturday) with your dad. Mom ran a 5K in Charlottesville and your dad was super sweet and kept you so I could be focused on my race. Speaking of overnighters you had your first week away from home too. We went to stay with Nana & Papa the first half of the week and then down to Charlotte to visit the Haynes (including the newest Haynes, Lydia), all while Daddy was in school. You were very smiley with Lydia, in fact I think you guys are going to be best friends!

You've become such a curious little baby over the past few weeks. You're reaching for anything and everything within sight. It's like you've realized there's a whole new world of discovery out there just waiting for you! You learned how to roll over from back to tummy this month. You've done the opposite a handful of times too but I think you got a little amnesia about how to do it again.

You're still a pretty calm, easy going baby. The lady at CVS asked me the other day if you were always this calm and when I said "most of the time" she said "Well I guess you've just got a little Buddha baby." While I'm not sure what to think about you being compared to Buddha, I do appreciate the symbolism she was getting at and the fact that you remain a chill baby.

You said goodbye to lots of your friends this month. That's the stinkiest part of this whole college ministry thing. Some you'll see again in August but lots of them are moving on for good. I bet you'll still be able to make them smile whenever you seem them again though!

Our love for you continues to grow more and more each day. We love you lots little girl!

Day Number Next

2011-05-09T16:42:00.004-05:00

So obviously I failed at blogging consecutively throughout the month of April BUT I am determined to reach 100 joys. So here goes a few more!

57) First solid food feedings. Rice cereal everywhere (including on mom) but so cute while we try it!

58) First Post-pregnancy race. Marissa and I headed to Charlottesville this past weekend for a 5K organized by my friend Lauren (and others). It was so much fun and I pretty much ran it all (with the exception of about .2 miles)! The start of races are always such a spiritual experience for me and this one was no exception. I may have even teared up a bit :).

59) Healthy babies. Although Sadie may not agree with me, (this picture was taken while we were waiting for the nurse to return with her vaccines) I am so thankful that we are able to go to the doctor when we need to.
60) Lunch outside with friends. Since the weather has gotten nicer I've been taking every chance I have to be outside!

61) Breakfast pastries. When I was pregnant one of my cravings included breakfast pastries, chocolate chip scones, pumpkin muffins, you name it really I liked it. Well even though I'm not pregnant now, I still enjoy a good muffin every now and then.

62) These fabulous people are graduating on Saturday. And even though it makes my heart ache to know they won't be back this fall I'm excited to see what God has in store for their futures. Thank you Class of 2011 for all you've taught me. Know you are loved!

Happy Four Months!

2011-04-29T16:06:00.003-05:00

Dear Sweet Sadie,

It's so hard to believe you're already 4 months old. At your doctor's appointment today you weighed 13 lbs 11 oz and were 26 inches long! You are definitely becoming quite the curious little person. You are so observant of the colors in books, the looks on people's faces, and every thing else in this big new world. Your friend Mr. Darrell said he thinks you're smiley about 70% of the time and I would have to say I agree with that statement. You certainly know how to get our attention with those lungs of yours but you're still such a sweet baby.

You learned how to roll over this month (from stomach to back) although you've only duplicated that move a few times since. Your poor bald spot continues to get larger (we gotta work on those back muscles) and the rest of your hair still refuses to lay down! Some people say you're starting to look a lot like your Mom but I still think you've got a good bit of your Dad in there too.

Now that it's warmer outside we've been going for more walks outside and you really like your stroller. You're learning to "talk" more and you've even been known to let out a few laughs. Sitting in your baby La-z-boy chair is still one of your favorite activities. The way you pull on your toys from that chair makes me think you might be a future gymnast!

Our love for you continues to grow more and more each day. You are such a blessing. We love you lots!

Day Thirteen

2011-04-25T21:19:00.004-05:00

50) To you this might look like a mess of clothes but to me it's a whole new wardrobe. I love changing my closet out each season with "new" clothes from the attic. It makes me feel like I just went on a shopping spree!

51) Every holiday I fall victim to the powers of seasonal candy. For some reason a Reester Bunny (or egg) tastes a whole lot better than a regular Reeses Peanut Butter Cup. Just to be clear this basket is a combination of all the Uebel family's Easter candy :).
52) A new washing machine that works. I will never take my washing machine for granted EVER again.
53) Cute little babies in their Easter dress and a new sun hat (thanks Nana)!

54) New haircuts and a sweet little baby.
55) A baptismal service on Easter Sunday. A great way to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus!

56) Sweet little Charlotte (this photo is another cheat by the way, it was taken on 1/9/11 but I forgot to take a picture of her this weekend). We went to an Easter Pageant on Saturday night at a local church and Charlotte played the part of Baby Jesus. She stole the show for sure. At one point she let out a few cries and had the audience in total "ooos and awwws." Precious. Oh yea, the pageant was pretty incredible too!

Short Break

2011-04-21T19:59:00.002-05:00

The past few days have been a whirlwind and it seems that wind swept my camera away with it. I have a feeling this means my 100 joys challenge will go on past the month of April. I hope to take lots of pictures this weekend though. Hope you have a great Easter!

Day Twelve

2011-04-19T20:22:00.006-05:00

46) TV on DVD. Addicting. We watched all of season one right after Sadie was born and then my sweet husband bought season two for us to watch.

47) We're making several of the rooms at our church into kid friendly spaces. We had a work day today and I got to paint this lovely piece of art. Turns out I'm not so good at painting but it was good for the soul :).

48) I found out one year ago today that I was pregnant. It's crazy how times flies and even crazier how much my life has changed since last year.

49) Here I am demonstrating that I can now wear another pair of pre-pregnancy jeans. Praise the Lord! P.S. Please ignore the funk that is my hair in this picture. It was taken at 9pm after a very LONG day.

Day Eleven

2011-04-18T19:56:00.004-05:00

40) The book I'm reading right now. It's written by a former Wycliffe missionary we met at a conference last year. I hadn't picked it up since last summer but it's been speaking volumes to me lately.

41) Meeting with these gals every Sunday night is such a blessing. They all have a wonderful way of pointing me to Jesus.

42) The kids at our church helped out the band this past Sunday morning. Such a blessing to see these little gals (the boys had a bit of stage fright) praising God.

43) Falling asleep on the sofa with my sweet little baby. Nic & I decided to trade in our computers for family time on Saturdays during the Lenten season. Sweet times like this are a result.

44) Saturday morning it rained hard. So hard that the 3.2 mile Run for Remembrance was canceled. When I looked out the door at BCM that morning I happened to notice a bunch of people running the race on their own. Pretty cool to see the Hokie community come together.

45) Speaking of BCM we had an in-house retreat with Longwood University & Hampden Sydney College. It was a great weekend of seeing people come together despite a few rearranged plans.

Day Ten

2011-04-15T10:40:00.005-05:00

Okay so I failed. To be honest I either forgot about taking pictures or just let myself throw a pity party the past couple of days. It seems I have a lot of catching up to do between now and April 30!
35) It was nice again yesterday so the whole family enjoyed some time outside. Reading outside is one of my favorite pasttimes.

36) Smiley baby. Enough said.

37) Nic is demonstrating the Sadie Hug Hold. It's absolutely one of my favorite things when I pick her up and she grabs on to my shoulder. I realize she probably doesn't know what she's doing but I like to think she's hugging me :).

38) Tulips and flowers galore have started to bloom around our house. Nic & I don't exactly have green thumbs so we were so excited to see that the people who owned our house before did!

39) Normally I'm not such a fan of birds (note why I chose Finding Nemo seagulls instead of real ones here). But there's a bird chirping outside right now that reminds me of a seagull and that makes me think of consistently warmer days ahead and days at the beach!

Day Nine

2011-04-12T21:17:00.005-05:00

31) Watched this episode of The Office with Nic last night. Precious. I almost cried and I can't say that about too many things Michael Scott does.

32) I think one of my favorite things about my computer is the camera. It helps me capture those chubby little cheeks (Sadie's not mine).

33) I love getting letters from our Compassion kiddo. It makes me squeal with delight every time I see one in the mailbox.

34) Again I'm a fan of The Brown Eyed Baker. This time I made no bake cookies except in my neck of the woods we call them preacher cookies. Delicious and easy to make.

Day Eight

2011-04-11T19:56:00.006-05:00

Oops, I almost forgot to blog today. I have to admit that I wasn't so good with my camera this weekend. It's been a hard few days around here and I didn't always want to pull out my camera or sometimes I just plan forgot. But without further adieu here are some of my joys:

25) I painted my nails last week for the first time probably since I found out I was pregnant. It's not that I had some phobia that the toxins would soak into my skin and hurt my baby, I was just too tired to care. As it turns out I missed it, I kinda like the burst of color. Heavens knows the rest of my wardrobe doesn't have much color going on.

26) Some sweet sweet BCM students got together and collected money to send us out on a date. They're even providing the babysitting. This was such an unexpected surprise and blessing. I am so grateful for a fun date night out with my hubby but I'm even more grateful that they thought of us!

27) We busted out the grill this evening to celebrate the warmer weather. And we finally got to enjoy that bottle of Sparkling Grape Juice that's been sitting in our refrigerator since Valentine's Day. It's always a good day when the wedding day flutes come out!

28) I love it that my daughter gets to grow up and be loved by tons of college students. She's only 3 months old and I can already see why they say "It takes a village to raise a child."

29) Ok so this is sort of a cheat-this picture is from a few years ago (obviously Nic is a nerd but not that much of one). Anyways our friend Seth (and his wife Sarah) who we met in Philadelphia, randomly found themselves in Blacksburg as they made their half cross country drive to Texas yesterday afternoon. We got to hang out with them for just a little bit and it was SO encouraging to seem them!

30) Speaking of Texas. Breakaway Ministries is a student ministry at Texas A&M. We were first introduced to the director of this ministry, Ben Stuart, at Passion 09. I recently rediscovered their podcast and have been so encouraged by it lately.

Day Seven

2011-04-08T13:00:00.004-05:00

20) I've only made these cookies twice but I seriously think they may be some of the best cookies I've EVER made. My friend Nicki originally linked to the recipe for these peanut butter, oat, chocolate chip wonders and as it turns out The Brown Eyed Baker is no joke when it comes to any kind of desserts.

21) To you this might just look like a sleeping baby but to me, this is a SLEEPING baby. I think poor Sadie is going through a bit of a growth spurt so she was a bit fussier yesterday than normal. Around 9 o'clock last night she passed out in her chair and I realized that was one of the first times all day my house had been quiet :).

22) The whole family went out to Pandapas Pond yesterday for an adventure in the sun. Nic & Sadie "read" while Mabel & I went for a run. I think we all may have learned a bit of a lesson when it comes to applying sunscreen, even when it's only April.

23) On our way back from Pandapas yesterday, Mabel was panting like a mad woman. I guess that's what running & chasing geese at the same time will get you.

24) Last night I started watching DC Cupcakes on Comcast OnDemand. I've heard about it before and even had one of their cupcakes (a friend brought it back for me) but I held out till now. Turns out it's actually pretty cute. The sisters who own the place are pretty ridiculous but they're really good at what they do. Somehow I always end up being a sucker for those bakery shows. First Ace of Cakes, Cake Boss, and now this!

Day Six

2011-04-07T13:10:00.003-05:00

As I've mentioned before, it's been so nice around Blacksburg the past couple of days and we've taken full advantage of it! Hence why a lot of my joys today are from the great outdoors.

16) Nic snapped this picture yesterday as he was bringing me my camera. I love walking around campus on a nice day. People are in such a pleasant mood and you get lots of fun looks pushing around a baby stroller :).

17) Speaking of campus. I absolutely love Virginia Tech (and no it's not just because I graduated from here). Once you've seen it, there is no denying it's beauty. I think a lot of times I take for granted the beautiful place we live in.

18) Sweet conversations. Not only do I love the campus we work on but I love the students we work with too! It's so rewarding to sit on a bench and talk about life and how God is working through it all with this lovely woman!

19) A little beauty indoors. My sweet husband brought flowers home for me last week (that's why the one in front is a bit droopy) and it totally brightened my day. They're sitting in front of me as I work this afternoon along with my back door open. Quite the inspiration I must say!

Day Five

2011-04-06T11:29:00.006-05:00

Today's joys are a little bit different.

14) I'm a little late to the Youtube scene so you may have already seen this before. I haven't however and I think it's pretty stinking hilarious. As it turns out it won the People's Choice Award for Best Viral video this year!

15) The new Passion album is amazing. I love to play it & sing along while I'm doing chores around the house. I like to think I'm making a future David Crowder Band and Christy Nockels fan out of Sadie. Seriously though, every time I listen to this album I hear something that speaks to me.

16) While I was standing in line at Old Navy the other day, I happened to see this little beauty hanging on the clearance rack (along with 20 others of the exact same thing). I couldn't resist buying it after I saw the price tag was a whopping $2.97. Poor Bengals. At least I got a good deal out of their misery :).

Day Three

2011-04-05T09:40:00.000-05:00

9) This girl. Melissa made me bust at the seams with laughter Sunday night. I was seriously in tears and I couldn't tell you the last time I laughed that hard.

10) We had these guys over for dinner last night and it was so much fun to hang out with them. We had actually planned on doing this last year but it ended up never happening, so better late than never right? Several of these guys are graduating in May and will be greatly missed by the Uebel fam.

11) My HERO! This lady seriously saved the day yesterday. As I mentioned in an earlier post, our washing machine is broken and we've been using other people's machines to get our laundry done. Well yesterday Sadie so graciously decided to poop all over me (yes, you read that right) that I needed a washing machine STAT. Jeanette not only let us use her machine but met me at the door with my folded laundry in hand!

12) Staff meeting in the sun. I love our weekly staff meetings but I love them even more when they're outside in 70 degree weather. I also love it when a certain little someone sleeps in her carseat for the whole two hours (note the car seat in the far right corner)!

13) Another first. Sadie wore her first dress ever yesterday! I was so excited for the warmer weather that I decided a dress didn't require a special occasion- everyday life is special enough!

I'm noticing that a lot of my joys revolve around people and I am more than ok with that. God, thank you for the many wonderful people you have placed in my life. May I not take them for granted!

Day Two

2011-04-04T20:55:00.006-05:00

3) This might seem like a strange picture to you but to me it's sweet bliss. Notice that the only thing in the top of the shopping cart is my pocketbook (no car seat...hint, hint). Call me weird but I actually enjoy grocery shopping and I love going by myself even more. Don't get me wrong I love my little girl to pieces but I was so thankful to go Krogering alone!

4) Running! I've really enjoyed getting back into the running groove. I even bought new shoes a couple of months ago to inspire me to run more. I'm signed up for my first post-pregnancy race on May 7 and I have only one goal: run the entire thing!

5) Running with this girl. For some reason it always seems easier to run when someone is with you (although I was hurting yesterday, bad).

6) International Street Fair. Every year the international student organizations on campus get together for a festival celebrating all the diversity here at VT. There is tons of food, dancing, and people! We sampled some baklava and thai tea.

7) These people. I love all the people in this picture dearly. My parents came up to visit Saturday afternoon and it was so much fun to have them here. I'm certainly blessed by my family!

8) In case you didn't know, India won the World Cup in cricket this Saturday and the Indian Student Association got together at BCM to watch it. Sadly we got to BCM when the game was already over but still it was so much fun to hear tons of people yelling and running around with the Indian flag in celebration. The energy in the room was contagious. I have no idea what cricket is about but I was excited for them!

Day One

2011-04-01T19:44:00.005-05:00

Today was the first day of my 100 Joys challenge. It was a bit harder than I thought. Mostly because I'm not used to toting my camera around and taking pictures of everyday life. I did manage to capture a couple moments of joy today though!

1) I love this puppy snout. It's wiped away many tears and brought a smile to my face multiple times. I am so very thankful for Mabel.

2) Who doesn't love big baby hair bows? Ok maybe Nic but not me. When I first found out I was pregnant I desperately hoped for a little girl so I could put bows in her hair. I sure do love the little girl he gave me!

100 Joys

2011-03-30T15:31:00.007-05:00

"End of the road... nothing to do... and no hope of things getting better. Sounds like Saturday night at my house."- Eeyore from Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin

Do you remember Eeyore? Gloomy, hopeless, always seeing the bad in every situation. That's how I've felt lately. I could blame it on the miserable weather or the fact that we've been crazy busy but if I'm really honest with you it's nobody's (or nothing's) fault but my own. I'm so bad at letting "life" suck the joy out of me.

It seems like when one little thing goes wrong I just let it snowball until I'm in an Eeyore state of mind. So when the washing machine breaks (at a time in my life when it feels like I'm doing more laundry than I ever have, thank you Sadie) I forget about the friends who willingly volunteer to let us use their machines. Or when my baby still hasn't quite figured out how to sleep through the night, I forget about how thankful I am for her and how good of a baby she is in the first place. Or when my tooth starts to hurt I forget about how blessed I am to even be able to go to a dentist to get it looked at.

So for the month of April I'm taking Sarah Markley's challenge, which I missed back in December because I was tired, busy, and oh yea ready to POP pregnant :). So every weekday throughout the month of April I'll be blogging about the things in my life that bring me joy until I get to 100. I love what Sarah has to say about the project, "I will be doing this as a daily discipline and experiment to see if recognizing the joy in my life that is already is there will, in fact, change me." So here we go. Will you join me on this challenge? If you're up for the challenge, leave a comment as I'd love to track along with you!

And just for starters here's a little something that brings me joy every day!

Three Months

2011-03-29T16:07:00.003-05:00

Hey Sadie - happy three month birthday! Although these three months have been hard, your mom and I wouldn't trade them for anything. We love playing with you, reading to you, and trying to talk to you (although you haven't really figured that one out yet).

This past month included a lot of new things for you. We were a little nervous to take you on a few longer road trips, but you did great. You came with us to Cincinnati to visit your dad's side of the family, including your other set of great grandparents. You even had your first trip to Skyline! You also came up with us to Northern Virginia to visit some friends up there. You like the road trips already because the car puts you right to sleep. You've also started hanging out at the BCM with us during the day. Thanks for being flexible for us!

You're finally learning how to hold your head up and have some control of your motions. You've even discovered how much you like to watch TV - we have to keep you from watching it too much so it doesn't rot your brain (I'm glad I can use parent phrases like "it'll rot your brain" with you now)! You're adjusting to earlier bedtimes (usually around 9:30 or 10), and can sleep through the night most of the time, although you still like to wake us up early every now and then. We love you lots!

Happy Two Months!

2011-03-01T12:46:00.008-05:00

Dear Sweet Sadie,

You are two months old today (well sort of, February is a weird month)! I can hardly believe how quickly time is flying. Some of those early weeks felt pretty long but now it seems to just sail by. You are such a smiley baby and it melts both mine & your daddy's heart every time you do. You really are such a good baby. The doctor used the word "mellow" to describe you today and I think that's quite fitting. Perhaps I should start singing you that Donovan song (don't worry I thought The Beatles wrote that song too, who the heck is Donovan anyways? Oh well thank you Google for your infinite knowledge).

Your favorite thing to do right now is lay on your back and kick/flail those arms and legs around. You really like to a) use your manners by raising your hand to ask a question b) signal everything as a touchdown (even when it's not football season) c) and praise Jesus with those arms of yours :). You're still getting the sleep thing down but you have been known to sleep from 11pm-7:30am. That consistency thing will come eventually. You really like books, if we read to you, you'll stare right at the bright pictures. I think you like the sound certain words make too (like spaghetti) but your dad says I'm crazy!

Some of your firsts this month included: your first long(er) road trip to see Nana & Papa, your first time meeting your great grandparents (one set at least), your first Superbowl (which by the way you decided to throw up all over the pretty onesie your momma specifically made for this momentous occasion), Valentines Day, and many more I'm sure I'm missing.

We're excited for the many more firsts to come too. You are such a blessing-we love you lots little girl!

My Valentine's Present

2011-02-14T12:56:00.006-05:00

As I've mentioned before on the blog I'm not much of a surprise person. Sometimes I think that's hard for Nic (because he sort of is) but when you grow up being able to pick out your Christmas presents it's hard not to do that every time you receive a present! Since compromise is a big part of marriage we've done just that. Our new policy is I send Nic a list of ideas, he gets to pick one out, wrap it, and surprise me with whichever item he picked out. It's a win win for both parties!

After reading about Krochet Kids International (KKI) on a hilarious/inspiring blog I recently came across, I knew exactly what I wanted for Valentine's Day! KKI is an organization that exists here in the US and in Northern Uganda- every crocheted item you buy is hand crafted by one of 87 Acholi women working for KKI in Uganda. For most of these women this is the first time they are receiving a fair and consistent income. This income allows them to support their families, send their children to school, and make their dreams come true!

When I woke up this morning I found this on my kitchen table!

The cool thing I didn't know when I originally found KKI is that the woman who makes your hat signs the inside of it too! What's even better is you can then log on to their website, find the woman who specifically made your hat, read her story, and then send her your thanks and encouragement (in case you're interested Akello Florence made my beautiful hat)!

I've been reading a lot about Africa lately (more about Rwanda than Uganda though) and I feel like God is making all these connections for a reason-even though I'm not quite sure why yet. I do hope you'll check them out if you're ever in need of a hat (or a scarf, shirt, laptop case, etc)!

Photo Shoot

2011-01-31T21:13:00.007-05:00

Thanks to our wonderful friend Robbie we were able to capture some amazing pictures of our family and the star of it all, Sadie. If you're looking for a videographer/photographer I highly recommend him!

Happy One Month!

2011-01-29T13:57:00.000-05:00

Dear Sadie Elizabeth,

Today you're a month old! It's hard to believe you've been on the outside world that long. It was a bit sad when the last of your umbilical cord fell out because now all evidence of your life in the womb is gone but enough crazy for now :). You really are such a sweet baby and when you get fussy all you need is your pacifier to be soothed. Man do you love that pacifier, the wub-a-nub has become mom & dad's best friend. You like to make all kinds of funny noises, your dad has affectionately named them "wildlife noises." You're learning to sleep longer at night and we greatly appreciate that. Hopefully one day soon we'll learn how to swaddle you tight enough that you don't escape like Houdini! You've had lots of firsts this month: 6:33, Target, church, visitors, and I'm sure I'm missing some, but unfortunately you've been asleep for most of them. You've still got some crazy hair, people keep telling me I should put some gel in there and spike it into a well defined mohawk, I keep saying maybe, if you were a BOY! One day all those sweet little bows, that are just waiting for their debut, will stay put in your super fine, soft hair.

All of this to say Sadie Elizabeth, we love you dearly and even though our lives have changed drastically (that admittedly has been hard to accept at times) you bring so much joy into our lives that we couldn't imagine life without you!

*Please bear with the cutesyness once a month. I "borrowed" this idea from another blog- I think it's so much fun to be able to look back years from now at each stage of Sadie's life*

Spiritual Epiphanies and Kroger

2011-01-21T10:21:00.010-05:00

Life has changed drastically in the Uebel household over the past few weeks. And I'm not exactly sure why, well ok maybe it's due to this cute little face :).

Last night over dinner I told Nic it had been a rough day. You see I have this little problem called worry, especially when it comes to finances. And yesterday when all the hospital bills and insurance premiums started rolling in I started to panic. As I saw numbers flashing before my eyes, I started to hate the fact that everything costs money. I have this list that seems to be constantly growing of things I want but unfortunately as mentioned before cost money.

Like the iPhone that Verizon is about to release, I mean I've been waiting FOREVER for it so shouldn't I be able to get it after being soooo patient for so long? Or a newer car, I know it's hard to believe but 1996 was a long time ago and notice I only said newer not new? Reality bit me in the butt last night, hard. I am responsible for this new little life now, whom I love very much don't get me wrong, but I can't do everything I used to do anymore and I can't have everything I want either. That's a hard pill to swallow. I told Nic, "It's like I'm being forced to grow up only I thought I had already done that."

And here's where Kroger comes in (in case you're wondering). After dinner Nic volunteered to stay home with the sleeping baby so I could have some time to myself, at Kroger of all places. An important thing to note here is that I haven't been to Kroger in over a month and because all of my attention has been dedicated to Sadie lately I've forgotten that Thursday nights at a college town Kroger are for beer runs.

So the place is dead except for the beer cave and checkout stations. I'm still walking around humming "It's the Hard-Knock Life " in my head and declaring it my theme song my entire Kroger visit. So I pay for my groceries and head out the door. It was freezing last night so I pull my cart over to put on some gloves and a cute college girl walks past me toting a 24 pack of Bud Light. And that's when I realize it- I'm probably only five years older than her but there is a world of difference between the two of us, in fact that seems like a lifetime ago to me(not that I made beer runs in college but you get the point). And what's even better is that's ok- I love my life now, I wouldn't trade anything to go back to that time, even if that means not getting everything I ever wanted and giving up a few things along the way.

There is always joy in our lives, sometimes to quote Disney's The Princess and the Frog, "we just have to dig a little deeper" to find it. Thank you God for the many blessings in my life!

She's Here!

2011-01-02T20:15:00.003-05:00

Sadie Elizabeth Uebel was born on 12/29/2010 at 1:13pm! The whole labor and delivery process was pretty smooth, and lasted less than 12 hours. April woke up with contractions at about 1:30am that morning, we were at the hospital by 4am (after dropping off Mabel with our friends Robbie and Kristal), and before we knew it she was here!

Our stay at the hospital was really good - we had plenty of help learning how to care for our little girl and recovering from delivery. We came home on the afternoon of New Year's Eve, and we've been adjusting to this new stage of life at home since then. We've been really thankful for the many friends who have come to visit, done little favors for us, and brought us meals during this time. Here are a couple of pictures from her first few days of life.

April holding Sadie in the hospital.

All dressed up and ready to go home.

Hanging out with dad.

Learning to be patient

2010-12-24T11:05:00.003-05:00

Merry Christmas Eve to you all! I hope wherever you are you're enjoying the day and relishing in the hope this season brings. We're here in Blacksburg waiting on Christmas and the birth of our very own special Christmas present-baby U's official due date is tomorrow.

I've learned over the past few days that I'm not a very patient person and I do not in fact like to wait-I honestly thought for sure this baby would be here by now. I had no idea how hard it would be to wait either. Every time the baby moves I jump and think "Is this it? Is she coming now?"

Through it all we're both learning what it means to trust in God's timing and his plan, despite how difficult it may seem. I have to admit that I'm certainly drawn to Mary's story and song right now as I read the Christmas story in Luke 1. The ease with which she accepts the angel's words, “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” No ifs, ands, or buts about it she chooses to trust and take God at His word for like the angel said right before "For no word from God will ever fail.” That is my prayer right now that I would choose to trust Him both now and forevermore. I pray the same for you this joyful season!

What kind of dog is Mabel?

2010-12-16T18:47:00.004-05:00

So we purchased a Christmas present for ourselves a couple weeks ago (a new mini video camera) and it turned out to be just the thing we needed to capture another Christmas present that came in the mail a couple of days ago (thanks Randy and Sam)! We'll let you know the results of Mabel's DNA sample when we get them back in 3 weeks. The company's brochure says they'll provide us with 3 different breed ancestries- the significant breed, intermediate breed, and the minor breed. Submit your guesses now!

Elf Yourself

2010-12-06T19:32:00.002-05:00

This was our Christmas activity of the day, courtesy of elfyourself.com. Our favorite part is Mabel doing her break dance. Hope you too have a little Christmas fun with it!

Advent

2010-11-30T21:02:00.002-05:00

April and I decided to celebrate Advent, the season in the church calendar where we prepare for Jesus' birth, this year by going through a devotional together. Gordon-Conwell, the seminary where I'm currently taking classes, sends out an Advent daily devotional book written by professors. I really enjoyed doing it last year, and feel like this will be a good thing for us to do together as we prepare for Christmas and the birth of our first child!

The first day's devotion was from Psalm 146, and these words have been echoing in my head since I read it as we wait for Jesus, the only one in whom we can truly hope:
"Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.
When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish.
Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God,
Who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever."
-Psalm 146:3-6

If you'd like to join us, you can sign up here to receive the devotional every day by email.

Since today is the last day of November, it's the end of our 30 posts in 30 days challenge. We only fell one short, which is really good for us!

I love Christmas cards and I love free stuff!

2010-11-29T21:47:00.007-05:00

I've been reading about the free giveaway Shutterfly is offering on a bunch of the different blogs I follow, so I decided to try it out for myself. Turns out it's totally legit and super awesome!

I'm so excited about having photo Christmas cards again this year. We made some our first Christmas together and I've missed them ever since. I always love getting photo cards from other people too as evidenced by my refrigerator :). I love Christmas cards in general- it always warms my heart to hear and see what our friends and family are up to. We put up our Christmas decorations the other night and I already hung a "clothesline" for cards. It's totally empty right now, but let's be honest, I rush the mailbox every day like a little kid to see if any have come.

Shutterfly has so many awesome options to choose from that it was really hard to narrow it down to just one. But with Nic's approval, I think I decided I like this one the best:

Although I'm not always the biggest fan of bright colors (with some exceptions of course), I love the contrast between the black & white photo and bright lettering. I'm so excited to get birth announcements next month too when Baby U arrives! And believe it or not, even though I've always thought those photo calendars you see in photo departments at Walmart and CVS are super cheesy, these are actually quite tasteful and I'm starting to see how they might make cool grandparent Christmas presents next year! My oh my, how my mom was right when she said, "Never say never."

Desiring God

2010-11-28T18:45:00.002-05:00

I picked up John Piper's book Desiring God this afternoon and decided it seemed like an appropriate time in my life to start reading it. To be honest I've always been a bit intimidated by the book and Piper's other writings in general. Books that contain paragraphs (no pages) that I have to reread multiple times to understand tend to frustrate me more than challenge me. After having some good quality time with God this morning though I felt like it was a good thing to do.

I'm only a few chapters in so far but I've already been intrigued/inspired by one of the quotes Piper includes from C.S. Lewis' book The Weight of Glory.

"If you asked twenty good men today what they thought the highest of the virtues, nineteen of them would reply, Unselfishness. But if you asked almost any of the great Christians of old he would have replied, Love. You see what has happened? A negative term has been substituted for a positive, and this is of more than philological importance. The negative ideal of Unselfishness carries with it the suggestion not primarily of securing good things for others, but of going without them ourselves, as if our abstinence and not their happiness was the important point. I do not think this is the Christian virtue of Love. The New Testament has lots to say about self-denial, but not about self-denial as an end in itself. We are told to deny ourselves and to take up our crosses in order that we may follow Christ."

I had a good conversation with Nic about this earlier because it confused the mess out of me. I mean aren't we taught in Romans and the gospels to neglect ourselves? The thing I'm missing though is we do those things not just to do them but to become closer to Christ. I'm still wrestling with the quote and I left out the last paragraph b/c of length but do you have any thoughts?

Nursery Pictures

2010-11-27T17:35:00.006-05:00

Here are a few pictures of our finished nursery. Now we're just waiting for the baby to come along and complete it!

Chick Flick kind of day

2010-11-26T20:18:00.002-05:00

"Iris, If you were a melody, I'd use only the good notes"- Jack Black (Miles) in The Holiday

I love chick flicks. I know what you're thinking "Most girls do April." And while that's probably true, one of my absolute favorite things to do is curl up on the sofa with a good one. That's what I've been doing since I got back from shopping this afternoon. Mom, Kristal, and I headed out around 7:30am to catch some bargains. It was a lot of fun being out and believe it or not it really wasn't that crazy. I guess everybody else went to Target at 4am when it opened. A morning full of being on my feet wore me out though. I haven't wanted to move off the sofa all afternoon/evening. My sweet husband has taken great care of this swollen ankles pregnant gal and I am SO thankful for him. It's been a good holiday so far and there are still two days left in the weekend to celebrate. Here's to Christmas tree decorating and sleeping in!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-25T21:10:00.003-05:00

It's been a great day of cooking, eating, and relaxing, and now we (along with April's parents) are sitting around the TV watching the holiday classic Elf! April and her mom are heading out early to do some Black Friday shopping, so they probably won't stay up for the whole movie. Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving too!

Thanksgiving Eve

2010-11-24T19:49:00.003-05:00

Today has been super productive. From cleaning the house to making a pecan pie I've gotten a lot done but the BEST thing is that I finished Baby U's nursery! The only thing left is to finish the mobile but everything else is in it's final home, set and ready to go. I can not begin to describe how much of a relief it is to have everything in place and put away. It really was a lot of fun to do and I'm super pleased with how it turned out but it was a lot of work! I'm starting to get really excited about her arrival too. We had our last childbirth class Monday night so I'm as prepared as I can be I guess for the whole labor/delivery thing. Now I've just got to practice some patience in waiting to meet her. Only one month from tomorrow (at least that's what my due date says)! I'll post some pictures of the nursery later this week- for now Happy Thanksgiving Eve!

the pigeon

2010-11-23T22:31:00.005-05:00

Have you read this book yet?

If you haven't you totally should. Next time you're in Barnes and Noble slip into the children's section at the back of the store and find it, or anything by Mo Willems really, he's truly delightful. This has been one of my favorite children's books for a while now and today it actually inspired a piece of "artwork" for the nursery. I was pretty pleased with how it came out (not the best quality picture I know).

What's your favorite children's book? What do you remember begging your mom to read you night after night?

Black Friday humor

2010-11-22T22:27:00.003-05:00

Have you seen the Target commercials for Black Friday yet? I think the leading lady is so funny! A friend of mine posted a link to this video and I think it's hilarious. Maybe it's just because I'm really excited to shop there on Friday!

Six Things Sunday

2010-11-21T21:33:00.003-05:00

1. I'm taking off the whole week from work to get Baby U's nursery and "stuff" together. I am amazed at how much "stuff" such a little person can accumulate.

2. I've been working on the nursery mobile this afternoon that I mentioned in an earlier post. Turns out Nic is a better yarn wrapper than me, who knew?

3. Lately I've been acquiring AND using all kinds of coupons. I kind of get a little thrill when I see the discount come off the ticket!

4. Harry Potter 7 was so good. It kind of makes me want to reread the book.

5. I like almost green bananas, as far from brown as possible. I realize this is really random but I've had two today and I felt the need to share.

6. I'm really enjoying having a lazy weekend with NO specific plans. Totally what I needed!

Staying Home

2010-11-20T20:35:00.002-05:00

Due to April being in the last stages of her pregnancy, we decided to stay here in Blacksburg for Thanksgiving break this year. This will be the first time in my life that I haven't traveled to be with family for Thanksgiving. We will be cooking and hosting Thanksgiving dinner here at our house. April's parents are going to come visit, and April's language partner, who is a VT graduate student from China, will also join us for dinner, along with her roommate.

I'm excited to help cook Thanksgiving dinner for the first time. I've cooked turkeys before, but we will be making a few staples that I've never tried before: mashed potatoes and real turkey gravy, real green beans (cooked with bacon!), and pecan pie. We had a "Southern" Thanksgiving dinner with our Homegroup (church Bible study group) this week, and April and I made collared greens and fried okra. Staying home for Thanksgiving is really giving us a great cooking lesson - I've already been on the phone with my mom a couple of times for help!

The Evening's Festivities

2010-11-19T16:47:00.002-05:00

We're going to see this in a couple of hours and I'm so excited. I'm also a little scared :). I mean I've read all the books so I know how it all ends but that doesn't mean I won't cover my eyes a couple times during the movie. Enjoy your start to the weekend!

Adoption

2010-11-18T19:05:00.005-05:00

Today's blog is a shout out to our friends Rob & Jess who go to our church, [nlcf] downtown. Rob & Jess are in the process of adopting a little boy, Riley from the Ukraine. They shared about their experience at our Sunday morning gathering this week. You can see what they have to say about the whole experience here.

For some reason God has always put adoption close to my heart. In fact I love to follow several other blogs of families who are/have already internationally adopted since my friend Lauren started working here after college (note she doesn't work there anymore). I'm so excited for Rob & Jess as they move forward in this process and in case you forget their website you can follow their progress by clicking on the Riley button!

Fail

2010-11-17T18:13:00.005-05:00

So I failed yesterday. I totally forgot to blog. I realized it before I fell asleep last night but it was so late and I was so tired that I just didn't care. I'm sorry to all my loyal readers-I've gotta say 15 days straight was a pretty good run and I plan to keep blogging till the end of the month but still I failed.

Last night the BCM threw us a baby shower for Baby U and it was so much fun! Each of our bible study groups got together to give us a present and then the whole BCM gave us the stroller that I was wishing for!! Another exciting event was getting a quilt that wonderful Allison made for baby U. Each of the families decorated a square and Allison added other fabric squares to make it super cute (note the excitement pictures below). It was so fun much to celebrate with our BCM family and I enjoyed the fact that Nic finally got to join me at a baby shower! Enjoy the pictures.

Photo Shoot

2010-11-15T16:56:00.006-05:00

As promised here are some of my favorite pictures from our photo shoot yesterday. These were all taken by my fabulous friend and photographer Emily Harrison. By the way, when did I get so big?????

Blessed Beyond Measure

2010-11-14T21:15:00.004-05:00

It's been a great birthday-I've had tons of Facebook birthday shout outs and texts! We took some maternity photos with my excellent photographer friends Chelsea & Emily this afternoon. And tonight we had a pre-Thanksgiving dinner with a bunch of our student leaders. The leaders were so sweet and many of them gave me a card with sweet messages inside which totally made my day. A couple of them even made me a red velvet cake (my favorite of the moment)! Just a few minutes ago we even had birthday carolers come to our door. I am beyond blessed by my friends and family! Here are a few pics of the family now- if you can't tell we're all pooped and partied out :).

Short Recap

2010-11-13T21:17:00.002-05:00

Today was a fun-filled, action-packed adventure. It started off with a baby shower, hosted by my lovely friends Kristal and Lisa. It was such a blessing to have friends from all chapters of my life come together to celebrate this little baby. Hopefully, I'll post some pictures soon (when I get them).

This afternoon, Nic and I went to Roanoke for the Stocked Market Bazaar. This was part of my weekend birthday celebration, so Nic graciously and willingly pushed through the crowds and the Christmas music. My parents ended up meeting us there, which was a lot of fun. After running a few more errands in the "big city," we grabbed a birthday dinner at Logan's Roadhouse. It was a great way to kick off my birthday eve (note previous post about being a birthday nut). All of this activity has left me worn out and without enough energy to come up with more than this short recap of the day for now. Goodnight.

2010-11-12T22:11:00.003-05:00

Tonight was Battle of the Air Bands at BCM. This was the third year for the event so I guess you could call it an annual thing now. It's exactly what it sounds like too- a bunch of people get together and "air band" a song- it's every wanna be rocker's dream come true. We had some great entries this year including P.O.D., a Top Gun Melody, the Blackeyed Peas, Paramore, KISS, Jason Mraz (and 5 others), Parliament, Iron Maiden, and a Pokemon something or another. P.O.D. ended up taking it all. Whatever the end result, it's always a fun evening full of laughs and sing alongs. Here are a few pics to enjoy.

Fond Fall Memories

2010-11-11T20:42:00.004-05:00

Nic & I made some delicious brunswick stew for dinner this evening. It was so tasty and it makes SO much that we'll be eating stew for days. Brunswick stew always reminds me of my childhood. Around my hometown it was a common fundraiser for churches to make a huge pot (I'm talking like a witches brew kind of pot) of stew and sell it by the quart. My mom would always buy tons of the stuff and freeze it because it makes a great dinner when you're in a hurry.

Here's the link to the recipe we used. We made a few adjustments to the recipe. We used corn, lima beans, blackeyed peas, potatoes, and skipped out on the onion and okra. I also recommend adding more salt than they suggest. Hope you too get to enjoy some tasty stew!

Birthday Nut

2010-11-10T18:06:00.003-05:00

I'm a big fan of my birthday. I mean I know most people are but I REALLY like my birthday probably to a point of obnoxiousness. I have no problem telling people in the days leading up to and on the actual day that it's my birthday :). So just so you know my birthday is this Sunday (11/14)!

When it comes to birthdays (or life in general) I'm not the biggest fan of surprises. I would just rather know whats going on so I can prepare myself. I still get excited whether I know or not! I remember one birthday in college (maybe my 20th??) I woke up and my roomies acted as if it was just another day. No one said anything much to me, maybe a wimpy 'Happy Birthday' but not much else. Nic was in town visiting and I kept asking him "What are we going to do today?" His response "I don't know we'll figure something out."

Well this is where my true 'only child' self came out and all I could think was, how can you be so lame, how dare you take such an important day so lightly, "we'll figure something out"- why the heck haven't you figured something out already? Well in case you haven''t figured it out already I was furious the rest of the day at Nic, my roomies, and the whole world. Later that evening he kept insisting we go to my friend Megan's house, who I was also quite sure had forgotten this very special day, so it was with great reluctance that I walked in her side door.

What do you know they had planned a wonderful surprise party for me with tons of people and fun! I definitely stuck my foot in my mouth that day and you better believe I was doing some serious apologizing :). Here are a couple birthday party posts from recent years!

2007

2009

Forest Fire in Blacksburg

2010-11-09T22:16:00.002-05:00

So when I left 6:33 tonight I thought I smelled some sort of fire burning all the way into Christiansburg. Turns out there's a forest fire in VIRGINIA. According to the news about 80 acres have burned so far. Craziness.

2010-11-08T13:43:00.006-05:00

With the few snowflakes we saw here in Blacksburg on Friday and everybody talking about it on Facebook I can't help but start to think about Christmas. I've gotta admit that everytime I walk past Christmas paraphernalia in a store I get just a little bit excited and I have to walk the other direction to avoid buying some little snowman/reindeer/substitute any little cutesy thing really.

Yesterday afternoon I was sitting on the sofa telling Nic "I just want to go buy something. I don't care what. I just want to go shopping." Its moments like these where I realize I'm not quite as non materialistic as I like to tell myself I am. And then today I was reminded of Advent Conspiracy, a movement that encourages us to: Worship Fully, Spend Less, Give More, Love All.

The thing I appreciate about AC is they clearly state on their blog-We’re not Scrooge. We love gifts. We just think you should give gifts that actually mean something, rather than gifts that’ll make the rounds at the next white elephant party.

So I've been thinking a lot today about my need to buy more stuff and how God is calling me to respond to him through it all.

Less Ordinary

2010-11-07T18:39:00.003-05:00

Over the past few weeks I feel like God has repeatedly been challenging me to examine my life and not just settle for the ordinary. Today was one of those days where he brought it to the forefront of my attention again. You see I'm really good at stuffing things like that deep down so they don't inconvenience me and God doesn't seem to be a fan of such behavior.

Right now I'm not exactly sure what "living a life less ordinary" means for me. I do know he's calling me to really examine how I spend my days and what consumes my time; to ask myself the question "Is this for his glory and purposeful or just a routine and for my own good?" I know I should (and want to) commit to pray through this instead of coming up with answers on my own. And with this I know it's going to take some time but I am hopeful that God will answer and challenge me through it all. Look for more updates about this as it unfolds!

Engaged Couples

2010-11-06T18:16:00.005-05:00

April asked me to guest post today, and I was more than glad to help out since I haven't blogged in quite a few months. We're worn out tonight from spending most of the last two days at BCM for our annual Engaged Couples Weekend. This year, we had 7 couples of current or former BCM students who will be getting married within the next year. We went through some different pre-marital counseling topics, including family, conflict, finances, sexuality, and Biblical foundations for marriage with these couples. We also took time to get to know them and let them ask any questions on their mind about marriage.

I love getting the opportunity to share my experiences and the little wisdom I have about marriage with others, especially students. It's encouraging to see these people wrestling with questions about what a God-honoring marriage and life after college looks like. I also love being reminded of the rich Biblical roots of marriage. It also gives April and I a chance to take a fresh look at our marriage and how we are living up to our commitment to each other and to God to die to ourselves every day and serve one another in love. I'm reminded of a verse that was read at our wedding ceremony: "We love because [God] first loved us." - 1 John 4:19

This year, we asked some friends to share some advice and things they wish they'd known when they got married so we could share it with our engaged couples. This was one of the most challenging and encouraging responses to me that we shared:

"I'm not sure anyone is really ready for marriage when it happens. So much about marriage requires dying to self and our culture has glamorized weddings and being married so much, that when the honeymoon is over, people end up disappointed in their spouse. When you think marriage, think dying to self, because that's what it will take to make it work. Before you judge your spouse, take a hard look at how that person has had to die to self to be with you."

Our "graduation" photo

Inspiration

2010-11-05T22:36:00.003-05:00

I was talking to a friend today about working out and for some reason it made me really excited! I've been thinking for a while now that I'd like to run another race after Baby U arrives and today's coffee talk may be the final push I needed. I had a ton of fun running this race back in March and the idea of training again actually gets me pumped.

This time I'm thinking a 10 miler. So tonight before dinner I was searching for 10 mile races in Virginia that occur long enough after Baby U arrives that I can actually train for them and not too far away that I lose motivation.

Here's what I came up with:

In Lynchburg on September 24

In Washington DC on October 9

The race course for the Army 10 Miler is through the middle of DC and around all the monuments. I think it would be so cool to run in this but they have a bit of a time restriction. You have to run at least a 15 minute mile, which I think I can handle, but it would really stink to train for so long, get hyped up the day of the race, start running and be told midway through you have to stop. I guess I have a little bit of time to figure it out- it never hurts to dream big though!

Go Hokies!

2010-11-04T21:10:00.004-05:00

According to Google Maps we live about 2-2.5 miles from Lane Stadium but tonight for some reason you'd think we lived right next door. I'm not sure if it's the cold air, a night time game , or simply that Hokie fans are LOUD but we can hear it all here at our place. I think I forgot in general how crazy night time games are. Traffic started getting heavy around campus before lunch and tailgating had started long before that! It's fun though to have so much excitement around town and I will be sad when college football is done for the season.

This weekend Nic & I are helping lead an Engaged Couples Weekend (premarital counseling) for 7 engaged couples. It's always one of my favorite parts of the job so I'm looking forward to it. I'm also excited because our weather forecast for Saturday looks like this:

I love the first snowflakes of the season. Hope you're staying warm and enjoying the evening wherever you are too!

DIY Nursery Style

2010-11-03T16:35:00.004-05:00

I don't have much time today so I'll leave you with some design ideas I'm thinking for our nursery. I can't seem to find a mobile I like so I'm thinking about creating my own. I like this one:

and it doesn't seem too difficult to make. The only thing I'm unsure of are the flowers, my nursery theme is polka dots, so I'm thinking about using circles instead. Thoughts? Ideas?

When we were in Cincinnati a few weeks ago I bought a bunch of different sized white photo frames and I'm planning on making an asymmetrical arrangement on the "orange" wall of the nursery. I got this idea from a blog I follow called Young House Love. I absolutely love their design ideas and I love that they desire to make things simple and cheap too! The hard thing now is figuring out what to put in those frames.

I'm planning on taking off the entire week of Thanksgiving so I'm hopeful I'll get most of these projects done during that week. Here's to hoping Baby U doesn't come 4 weeks early!

Last Weekend

2010-11-02T16:40:00.006-05:00

Before I bring you up to speed on this weekend I've got to cover last weekend. We've had so much going on the past month everything seems to blur together at times- on to the weekend's events though!

Nic & I took advantage of a free Friday night and went on a fun date night filled with Chinese food and Life As We Know It starring Josh Duhamel and Katherine Heigl. We both figured this movie was pretty timely considering it's about two people who have no knowledge of raising a baby, learning how to. And despite it's D- review from Entertainment Weekly I absolutely loved it, it might be right up there with 27 Dresses for me when it comes to romantic comedies starring Katherine.

After the movie our good friends Jess & Micah got into town for the Duke/VT football game. Micah and Jess are dear friends of ours. Nic & Micah carry special memories from their days of being an RA in Pritchard to embarking on the real world together in Northern VA. It's always so good to catch up with them and no matter when we last saw them (a year ago or 5 days) we can always pick up just where we left off. I'm a terrible photographer and didn't get any pictures of the four of us together but I did manage to snap one of Nic & Micah and the "Titan" his truck. The Titan carries a special place in our hearts- it moved us into our first apartment in Philly and carried our first (and current) living room furniture from IKEA to our house!

Saturday our church hosted a craft fair and I sat at my friend's booth for her most of the day (she had to work). We didn't have tons of people come but it was a lot of fun just being there! That evening we went out for a fun friends in town/Hokie win Mexican dinner.

Sunday afternoon we drove to Roanoke to meet up with some Philly friends, the Drummonds, who are now living in Indonesia. It was so good to see them and here about their work in Indonesia. They're expecting their second little boy any day now so it was fun to hear stories and get advice from their parenting adventures.

Whew......that was a lot. But hey I blogged 2 days in a row and that's saying something!

Mission Impossible

2010-11-01T20:38:00.003-05:00

My mission for the month: to blog every day (weekends included). I realize this may seem like a lofty goal given my recent history, but hey you gotta dream big right? I was just telling Nic how I feel like for once I have tons to blog about. So we'll start with today's happenings.

We just got back (like 30 minutes ago) from our first childbirth class. All day I've been a little nervous but I worked up my courage and "put on my big girl pants" as we were driving to the hospital tonight. One of my health care practitioners was actually teaching the class (and will be for the next 3 weeks) so that was reassuring and exciting because Nic had yet to meet her. There are 13 couples in the class and I bet 4 of them are due within a few days of my due date! As the class got started and the teacher was explaining what we'd be covering over the next month I was thinking ok I can do this, this is all good. Anatomy & Physiology was one of my favorite classes in college so I'm totally down with picture diagrams and charts. And it was all good until she put the video in. That's when it started to go down hill. I could feel my palms start to get sweaty and my stomach start to hurt, it was 7th grade sex education happening all over again.

Ok so I may be exaggerating a bit there. But it definitely was my least favorite part of the evening. Overall though I'm way excited to be there (and Nic agrees). It's cool to see and understand how the whole process works and it made me even more excited for Baby U's arrival-less than 2 months to go :). Here's a picture of Nic & I for my 32 weeks belly pic. See you tomorow!

Baby Shower Pictures

2010-10-19T15:03:00.007-05:00

As promised here are some pictures from our two fabulous baby showers!

From Cinci:

Presents! See the little push toy with the orange wheels? Turns out that was Nic's favorite toy as a cute little toddler and his aunt gave it to us to have for our own little baby!

Sam & I before the shower got started.

Cute little cookies from the Bon Bonnerie!

Katy and I at the shower. I can not believe she's a junior now!

And I know this isn't a "shower picture" per say but it is a picture of Randy & Sam's cute little new puppy Luci!

And now a few from Danville:
Fun little diaper cake made with nursery colors-Thanks Kristy!

A few of our guests.

Cute little polka dot cake. In case you can't see it that says "Future Lil Hokie."

Opening presents with my childhood friend Ashley right next to me. Our moms have been great friends all of their lives too!

I can't say thank you enough to those of you who came and help put these showers together. Nic and I feel super blessed and love- so thank you!

Baby Coming Soon!

2010-10-18T20:35:00.007-05:00

Well I really don't have too much of an excuse for my long absence from blogging, except for the fact that my life is pretty boring and there's not too much to blog about in my opinion :).

It has been a very busy and great past couple of weekends here in the Uebel household though! Last weekend we headed up to Cincinnati for fun, family, and a baby shower. We were so blessed by how many people came out to show some love for Baby U! I'll post some pictures from our Cinci trip in a later blog (silly Nic put them all on his computer).

This weekend was equally fun with a visit from fabulous college friends and another baby shower in Danville. My friend Megan and her sweet little girl were visiting from CA so we seized the opportunity to all get together and met in Blacksburg. It was so good to see everyone- I think it had been about a year and a half since our last gathering! I love all of those girls dearly and don't know what I would do without them.

The baby shower in Danville was also so fun and made me again realize how many people love this little baby! It's hard to believe I'm 30 weeks pregnant already. Baby U will be here before we know it. Her nursery is slowly coming together and I certainly plan on a big reveal here on the blog once it's all in place! We'll start childbirth classes November 1 and I'm a little bit anxious about the whole labor and delivery thing but I have to keep trusting that God is good and faithful and he has it all in His hands! Till next time- Auf Wiedersehen (sorry, I'm feeling a little German tonight-a girl's gotta take advantage of her German, hard to spell last name sometime or another)!

(30 weeks, 2 days)

Exhausting

2010-09-19T13:15:00.003-05:00

Yesterday Nic and I set off for Roanoke with one goal in mind: to register for Baby U. Here's a picture I took of us right before leaving the 'burg.

Now give it's not the most flattering picture of me (hello awkward angle double chin) but notice how happy we look, like we're ready to conquer the day. Well unfortunately this is the only picture I got yesterday. I had fully intended to chronicle our adventure but after the first stop I was overwhelmed, dejected, and not so photo happy.

Our first stop was in fact Babies R Us. I was feeling good when we first arrived. The lady who signed us up for a registry was super friendly and helpful, the store itself is brand new so it's super nice inside but it all started going down hill when she let us loose with the little scanner gun. I hadn't spent much time researching what we should/shouldn't register for so we just started going up and down all the aisles looking like lost sheep.

It wasn't too long into this process that I realized you can't just say, "Oh pacifiers, that's a good idea, let me just scan this one" because there are A MILLION different pacifiers to choose from. If it's not that 20 different brands are available, there are 500 patterns or colors to choose from, not to mention taking price into consideration too. This same thing happened with EVERY item I wanted to register for. I could feel my heart rate start to race and that's when I realized it, I was starting to get overwhelmed. Thank goodness for my sweet little hubby who kept saying over and over again "It's ok baby, everything is going to be ok." We decided it was probably time to turn in the scanner gun shortly after that for both of our sanity's sake.

After that craziness, we decided it was time for a little therapy, a thing I like to call Chick-Fil-A. After happily ordering a #5, the 8 count with a sweet tea and honey mustard we sat down over lunch and the "Registry Checklist" to create an attack plan for our second stop, Target.

Target felt much better from the get-go. For one, I love that store, it may in fact be one of my happy places. But most importantly there were not nearly as many options (i.e. stuff) in their baby section so it made registering so much easier. We were in and out of there within an hour, feeling good about what we registered for. We both agreed we needed a reward after one intense day so we stopped at Sonic on the way out of town for some ice cream treats. Exhausted as we were when we got back home, I gained a little more strength from hearing the Hokies secure their first win of the season!

It Begins with Me

2010-09-16T19:17:00.003-05:00

Nic & I both got slammed with our friend and yours, the common cold, for the large majority of this week so tonight when I got home from work I was in a no good, lousy, yucky mood (in other words, I was throwing myself a bit of a pity party). I was saying things like, "I'm a crappy campus minister, a lousy friend, a bad wife, and a terrible housekeeper"- all great things to tell yourself I know.

After dinner, while laying down upstairs, I heard a diesel truck pull up so I looked out the window and saw a FedEx truck parked outside my house. Immediately all my arm hairs stood to full attention and I thought, could this possibly, just maybe be a package for me? Seeing as we weren't expecting anything and the fact that I was in a crappy mood, I figured "Hmmph, it's probably for our neighbors." But imagine my surprise when he rang OUR doorbell and I heard him tell my handsome hubby "It's for April."

As Nic brought the package into our room I was glowing with excitement. Turns out it was a package from Compassion International with the following contents!

I received an email from them a few weeks ago about the opportunity to host Compassion Sunday at your church. So after talking to our pastor and receiving his permission I signed [nlcf] up and somewhat forgot about it till a couple of days ago. Compassion Sunday (9/26) is a worldwide day of making people aware of child sponsorship and hopefully adding more sponsors to the Compassion family. A large chunk of the package contained child sponsorship packets (which you can see to the right of the t-shirt) so people can sign up to sponsor a child on the spot. It made me so happy to see all those little kiddos faces and I really do pray that we'll be able to find a sponsor for most of them that day. Thank you God for unexpected blessings! And here's to hoping the t-shirt still fits in a week. Silly me kind of forgot I was going to be 27 weeks pregnant when I actually wore it :).

Fitting the Stereotype

2010-09-08T17:05:00.007-05:00

Earlier this evening I told Nic to run and grab the camera because I was in fact: pregnant, barefoot, and in the kitchen.

I had to laugh at how I was fulfilling a stereotype but luckily my hubby doesn't believe that's how it should be-to his credit it was my choice to be in there. I was making chocolate chip scones which may be one of my more recent cravings :).

If you look closely at the picture you can see our sweet new back splash that Nic's parents helped us install. They along with my parents came to Blacksburg for the long holiday weekend and we spent most of our time "laboring" (note the irony of Labor Day there) on home improvement projects. It was such a blessing to have them around and to know that they really wanted to help us out. We (and mostly I mean they) painted the nursery, fixed the garbage disposal, installed a new back splash, fixed random things around the house, installed mini-blinds, and I'm sure there's more I'm missing. All in all it was a great weekend!

Overdue Update

2010-08-16T19:09:00.005-05:00

So I know I mentioned in the last post I wanted to blog everyday during August but as you can tell it's 14 days later and that did not work out so well. Oh well! Things are starting to gear up for a new school year around here. A lot of students have already returned and those living on campus (include all the new freshmen) can start moving in as early as Wednesday. As I've mentioned before I could not be more excited about students coming back. Summer is nice but I miss having students around!

As for a baby update, I am now officially 21 weeks pregnant and halfway through. Woohoo! We had an ultrasound a couple weeks back and everything looked great.

Baby was not being so cooperative that day but the tech told us she thought it was a girl! We've heard from a couple other medical professionals that they think "probably girl too." I'm headed back in tomorrow morning just to double check that "probably" :).

In other news I am so ready for fall! I reached my breaking point with this heat and humidity last week and I can not wait for cooler temperatures to set in. Not to mention the brightly colored autumn leaves and football. Ahhhh.......here's to September (but hopefully I'll see you around before then)!

a Beach Boy kind of vacation

2010-08-02T15:38:00.006-05:00

We just returned from a week long vacation at the beach. We loaded up the car and drove all the way across the lovely state of North Carolina to Oak Island last weekend. Our friends Jay & Elizabeth & their son Trey joined us for the week and fun was had by all. To be honest I spent most sunlight hours on the beach- I absolutely love sitting out by the water reading a good book. I finished two this week, The Help & The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime (both I highly recommend although if I had to pick a favorite it'd be The Help).

One of the days it was looking a bit rainy outside so we caught a ferry and headed over to the NC Aquarium. I couldn't tell you the last time I visited an aquarium but it was so much fun to be a kid again and see all the crazy cool marine life. My favorite thing might have been the gators. Now don't get me wrong there is no way I'd like to meet one of those guys outside of their tank but their scales and massive size are so cool!

Thursday night we went to Southport for dinner at this fabulous little seafood restaurant on the water. Afterwards we walked around the quaint little town for a bit and Elizabeth, the Dawson's Creek fan that she is :), made an observation that it sort of looked like the town in the show. Turns out she was right and they did film some of the scenes in Southport!

It really was great though just to get away for a bit and forget about the worries of the world. Now that we're back I'm ready for whatever comes our way and I can't wait for the start of school! Expect another post tomorrow I really really *want* to try and post something everyday this month!

Nic & I out for ice cream one night

a frog at the aquarium

Trey being super cute while waiting for the ferry

A Week to Forget

2010-07-18T13:18:00.004-05:00

Have you ever had one of those weeks where NOTHING seems to go right? We here at the Uebel household experienced one of those this past week. The ickiness of the week came in all sorts of varieties: one of our cars broke down en route to a friend's birthday party and had to get towed, we totally burned the mess out of this new recipe we were trying for dinner one night, I felt miserable 3 out of the 5 weekdays, and those were just a few. It just felt like every day something else went wrong. At one point during the week I thought "Wouldn't it be great if we could just hit a pause button on life and call for a redo?" but then I later realized I'd much rather just forget the week ever happened.

I don't write all that to invoke your sympathy for me, it's more like I want to share what God's been teaching me through it all. God tells us over and over again through his Word that there are many different seasons in life and times will not always be happy and filled with cotton candy and rainbows. It is during those times that we have to depend on Him most and we better hope that some sort of trust relationship already exists with Him, otherwise it's going to be real difficult to push through. The past few weeks at church we've been discussing the book of Hosea and just how great God's love for us really is. When we reject Him and choose not to follow His ways (which I have done many times this week through my outrage at not getting my own way) he still extends grace to us. Even as I sit here now I am humbled by how much He loves me!

Below is a picture of me at 18 weeks pregnant. It's pretty hard to believe I'm almost halfway there, especially since it's still hard to believe I'm even pregnant at times! Well here's to a better week!

Cravings

2010-07-06T12:15:00.003-05:00

Now that the cat's out of the bag and people know I'm pregnant I'm often met with a fair share of questions. Don't get me wrong I love answering them all! More often than not though they're the same. When are you due? How are you feeling? Are you going to find out the gender? And my favorite...have you had any weird cravings?

Well my friends here's the answer you've all waited for..........

I know, I know it's not exactly weird (like pickles and ice cream) but I still think it's kind of funny. Under normal circumstances I wouldn't let myself buy these EVER but it just seems like I can't get enough of them now that I'm pregnant. I guess if my kid comes out orange and "puffy" we'll know why.

Inspiration Walk

2010-07-01T12:50:00.011-05:00

Since it was a little bit cooler today I decided to go on a walk with my camera to see what inspires me. Along the way I found a few things that don't inspire me too!

The good first:

Hydrangeas

These little beauties are right outside of our old apartment. I've been seriously considering cutting some of them off to plant at my new house :). Gerber daisies will always be my first love but these are a pretty close runner up.

A Beautiful Campus

I know there are A LOT of times I take the place we live for granted. Not only is it a beautiful part of the country but the campus we are privileged to work on is incredible too. On the way to BCM from our house there are a couple views (between the trees) of the incredible Blue Ridge Mountains that surround us. Each time I see them I'm reminded that I sure do love these mountains!

Bumper Sticker

One of my favorite things about summer is being able to roll the windows down, crank up your music, and sing at the top of your lungs. I may have done this very thing on my way back from lunch today!

A shady spot to read

Another thing I love about summer is that I have more time to read. With all the moving/getting our house in order I haven't had much time for it yet. Later this month though we're headed to the beach with some friends and I look forward to reading many a fiction book underneath that big old beach umbrella!

And now the bad:

Crappy Flip Flops

I was so excited to wear these shoes this morning because they match the dress I'm wearing today (which I just so happened to get for a sweet deal yesterday) perfectly. The straps however have been falling off my feet all day and now I have blisters on the soles of my feet. I'm beginning to think fashion might not always be worth it :).

And last but not least....

Parking Tickets

It didn't belong to me but I still hate when I see them. I just know this poor person is going to come back from a fun day exploring campus or trip to the bookstore and have their day ruined by this orange blob...ugh! I kind of wanted to take it off their car to spare them the pain but then I thought that would probably make things worse in the long haul!

Well that's it for today. Hope you're finding some inspiration wherever you are on this beautiful summer day!

Go Big or Go Home

2010-06-23T09:12:00.005-05:00

Well it seems here in the Uebel household we can't just make one life change at a time. It has to come alongside at least one other. Take for example when we got married. Not only did we say "I do" but we both moved to a new city, started new jobs, and oh yea graduate from college (well at least me).

Well this time around it's no different. *Begin trumpet prelude*-We're having a baby and we just bought our first house! Yep you read that right. I'm about 13 1/2 weeks pregnant and my due date is actually Christmas Day! We're so excited for our family of 2 to expand to 3. It's still a little crazy to think about and we have absolutely no idea what being a parent is going to be like but we're pumped!

As for the new house I promise there will be pictures to come in the very near future. It's been a crazy week leading up to and after the move. We closed on the house last Wednesday afternoon and moved ALL our stuff in that night (crazy yes I know). And can I add here that I had no idea closing would be as formal as it was? I mean I had no clue that EVERYONE who buys a house in the US has to sit at a massive table across from a lawyer and sign a thousand and one papers in an hour! I leaned over to our realtor at one point and said "I feel like I'm starring in some sort of legal drama with this giant table." Welcome to adulthood I guess.

Anways, Thursday morning the entire BCM staff (and Adrienne) came over and helped us paint 3 rooms which was such a blessing! That afternoon/evening we organized and unpacked. We woke up Friday and Saturday morning for a full couple of days at BCM Alumni Work Weekend. It was great to see old friends and give the building a good 'ole fixing up.

Well I think that's all for now. As I said earlier I'll post pictures soon! Hope you're enjoying the summer wherever you are!

Anniversary Trip

2010-05-25T09:25:00.005-05:00

Friday morning we dropped Mabel off with my parents and headed down to Myrtle Beach, SC for a long weekend getaway. I couldn't tell you the last time I went to Myrtle Beach (probably when I was in high school) and Nic had never been there so it was a fun adventure for all. We checked into our hotel shortly after arriving and of course walked down to the beach! The place we stayed was called Ocean Creek Resort and I highly recommend it if you're ever down on the Grand Strand. There is actually a real ocean creek that runs in between the property and the ocean (which at high tide looks more like a river) which was really neat because of all the wildlife in brings in with it.

That night we relived a part of my childhood by dining at the Sea Captain's House for dinner. I can remember several mornings of our family vacations, being dragged from my sleep to this restaurant for breakfast. To my parent's credit it is pretty cool though. The restaurant is housed in this old house that is literally right on the beach. In fact we waited for our table out by the sand dunes (not a bad wait I'd say)!

After dinner that night we went a little bit wild and crazy and went to play putt-putt. This was the first time I've played putt-putt with Nic in a LONG time (the first and last time was when I was a freshman in college 8 years ago). And as it turns out you can learn new things about your spouse years later- for instance, Nic never knew that I was a leftie when I played putt-putt (I think I actually forget about that too though). We picked the right course too because we discovered halfway into our putt-putting experience that the winner of the USPMGA Masters played this exact same course back in October!

Saturday we pretty much just sat on the beach all day reading and enjoying the ocean! Someone recommended The Princess Bride to me and I've ended up really enjoying it. That evening we went out to dinner again and just enjoyed having nothing to do. We packed up Sunday morning and headed home (with a stop to pick up Mabel of course). It was such a great weekend overall! My only complaint is that it was too short!

Four Years

2010-05-20T12:27:00.011-05:00

Today we celebrate four years of being husband and wife. It's hard to believe it's been four years already-it really doesn't seem like that long ago to me. But then again when I really start to think about it, the memories of that day do seem to get a little bit blurrier as each year passes. I've been helping a friend with some of her wedding planning (and when I say helping I really mean inserting my opinion into the conversation as needed) and it seems that the pricing estimates and the names of printing companies that I could once quote off the tip of my tongue have long since left my brain. In fact the other day Nic & I couldn't agree on what time our wedding actually started, I said 4:30, he said 3:30. Turns out we were both wrong-it was 4.

But despite my failing memory, one thing still holds true, I love Nicholas Edward Uebel, more now than I did the day I married him. Marrying him truly was one of the best decisions of my life!

April Uebel, Private Investigator

2010-05-11T14:45:00.004-05:00

So I'm a pretty observant person. I can remember names and faces like nobody's business. I often joke with Nic that if I could only retain useful knowledge the way I do facts about people, maybe I would have actually obtained my one time dream of going to medical school.

But luckily over time I've come to appreciate all the gifts the good Lord has given me and attention to detail is definitely one of them. I was reminded of this the other night while out to dinner with some friends. At the end of the meal when the server brought the credit card receipt to be signed I looked down and happened to notice his pen said Gaylord Hotels. Now because I'm a frequent visitor to the big city of Nashville (ok really I only go there once/maybe twice a year) I happen to know that the Opryland Hotel as well as several other famous landmarks in Nashville are owned by (or at least used to be owned by) the Gaylord company. So immediately, without thinking that I should perhaps explain myself before I spoke, I said "I wonder if he's (the waiter) from Nashville. Gosh, I hope his family and house are ok if he is." The whole table proceeded to stare at me as if to say, "What the heck are you talking about?"

Now I know what some of you might be thinking right now-gosh April creep much? In fact I can see you shuffling your children away from me as I type this. But I disagree with your creeper claims-I think I missed my calling in life as a Private Investigator. I mean really, who else can solve all those mystery/detective dramas on TV before they show you "who did it?" As far as I can tell I'm the only one holding up my hand right now. Always keep your eyes open America you never know what you might see!

Crazy Love

2010-04-28T20:57:00.003-05:00

Our homegroup for the past few weeks has been reading through the book Crazy Love by Francis Chan. Nic & I listened to the audiobook on our way to the OBX last year and really enjoyed/learned a lot from the book. It's been pretty cool reading back through it with our homegroup. Today in my reading I came across this description of "lukewarm" believers and I'm simply going to end with this quote. After you read it you'll understand why, enough said.

"Lukewarm people love others but do not seek to love others as much as they love themselves. Their love of others is typically focused on those who love them in return, like family, friends, and other people they know and connect with. There is little love left over for those who can not love them back, much less for those who intentionally slight them, whose kids are better athletes than theirs, or with whom conversations are awkward or uncomfortable. Their love is highly conditional and very selective, and generally comes with strings attached."
- from Chapter 4, Crazy Love by Francis Chan

Last 6:33 of the Year

2010-04-27T21:26:00.002-05:00

Tonight was our last 6:33 of the year at BCM, which is our weekly Tuesday-night worship service. 6:33 usually consists of music by our praise band, student testimonies, teaching, plus some time for prayer and announcements. It's one of the most well known things that BCM does, our big event each week. When I was a student, it felt like the center of our ministry, the thing that the most people came to. Things have changed around now - we have more students that come to our small group Bible studies on Wednesday and Thursday nights than come to 6:33.

Tonight we took a little bit of a different approach - it was a silent worship night. April works with our creativity team, and they were in charge of creating some different ways for our students to spend some time in silent worship. We had stations for prayer, reading of the Psalms, painting responses to God, and meditation. They did a great job creating the space for this all to happen in a creative way - it was a great way to end the year!

Selfishness

2010-04-26T15:50:00.004-05:00

Yesterday during my quiet time I came across this verse in 2 Corinthians, "And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again" (2 Corinth 5:15 to be exact). As soon as I read it I did a double take. The same kind of double take Mabel does when she sees a squirrel on one of our walks and only seconds later remembers that she has on her headcollar as she feels her head jerk forward.

Jesus died for ME so that I might not live any longer as if it's all about ME but instead for Him and his purposes. Wowsers that hit me hard. The first thing I wrote in my journal after reading this was "Is this really possible God? Can I really give up thinking about myself." Through this verse God has really been showing me just how selfish I really am and how I think about numero uno in every decision I make.

The Bengals' Draft

2010-04-25T14:27:00.002-05:00

I'm certainly no expert, and would be the last person to run something like an NFL franchise, but I think it's fair to say that my hometown team, the Bengals, have made some pretty poor decisions over the past two decades. They've made the playoffs two times in that stretch, losing their first game both of those times. One of those was in 2005 when the Steelers destroyed Carson Palmer's knee, and the other was this year when we lost to the Jets.

I feel like this year I'm more excited about the results of the draft than I have been in the last few years. I don't remember the last time the Bengals had a decent TE, so it's a little exciting that we drafted the best TE in the draft, Jermaine Gresham from Oklahoma, in the 1st round. Although this pick is kind of an admission that we've missed on trying to get a good TE the last two years when we signed Ben Utecht and drafted Chase Coffman. Neither of these guys ever did much for the team.

The pick I'm probably most excited about is WR Jordan Shipley from Texas in the 3rd round. He's a white guy that can play in the slot - maybe he could be the next Wes Welker? That might be too high of an expectation, but we could really lose a guy like him to help get Ochocinco and Antonio Bryant open downfield. Our passing game was pretty lame by the end of last year - even Carson looked pretty bad in our last two games and the playoffs. Let's hope that these two picks can help open up our offense back to what it was a few years ago. With the tough defense we've built, it could be a good year for the Bengals.

Wishing for more Sunshine

2010-04-24T16:03:00.003-05:00

Today is the kind of day when you just want to lay on your sofa and watch movies all day. That's because it's grey and dreary outside with rain looking like it's on the horizon ALL day. I've done a little bit of movie watching this afternoon (The Proposal- a definite favorite, some cheesy Lifetime video-"The Cinderella Pact"-i think) and I've also been cleaning the house. There were lots of tumbleweeds (aka clumps of dog hair) piling up in corners around the house and it was time for them to go! So in the meantime I'm waiting for Nic to get back home from Charlotte and dreading the fact that the weather forecast everyday from today to Thursday includes rain. Here's to warm thoughts and sunshine!