Conviction

As you probably know by now, I'm preggers. So, most of my posts have been about that, the internship or some fun, random happenings we have done. See...I'm 39 weeks preggers today.

But, with all the excitement of the pregnancy and our impending delivery I had this random flash...a random thought this morning. I thought, "I sure do talk a lot about my pregnancy and baby Kinsley and her arrival." and then I thought, "As much as I think about Christ's second coming, why I don't I talk about it more?"

If you could ever be inside my head, you would know that every time I see a plane in the sky or a bright star or planet or some bright light in the sky, I always wonder if it is Christ coming. I know His second coming is going to be much more majestic and triumphant than a plane in the sky (I have had many a "rapture dream" about this topic...) But regardless, the second coming is so frequently in my thoughts. But why don't I talk about it? Why don't I share the Gospel like I believe people's salvation, their eternal salvation depends on it? Why don't I talk about Christ's coming as much as I talk about Kinsley's coming?

Unfortunately, I can't give you an answer. I can't... But it was a thought that I had today. And, I suppose, I've always grown up with this concept of, "people will know I'm a Christian and know what I believe by the way I live my life." But, over the years I have met so many wonderful people that don't know the Lord. While some may say actions speak louder than words, my thought for today is that my words need to be spoken.

38+1

My current state is one of denial. Often I think, "I feel pretty good so therefore Kinsley must never be coming out - I'm just going to stay preggers forever." Other times, I want so badly for her to just come!!!! I'm running thin on patience! However, I must admit, part of my lack of patience is quite selfish. I am really not enjoying my internship rotation as much as I did the clinical rotation. Right now we are doing Foodservice Management and I just really don't feel like I'm doing anything beneficial but instead just doing the assignments my boss gives me, just to cross them off the list. You can tell I'm in the Foodservice rotation in the picture based on the fact I pulled my bangs back - I have to wear a hairnet most of the day :-/

I'm not generally that pointy - Kinsley was protruding and the more I asked her to cooperate, the more she stuck out

But despite my lack of interest in Foodservice Management - I'm very blessed. My fellow interns haven't yet told me to just SHUT UP about being preggers, but instead (they at least pretend) to be very interested and supportive of my pregnancy. Also, I have had awesome contact with friends and family from all over the country!! I had an awesome Oovoo session with some amazing friends from Tech, had two great phone calls from two more amazing friends, and I've gotten some snail mail this week - which, brings me to my next point...Kinsley's room!!

We received this beautiful blanket from my high school Academic Team coach, who was also my elementary art teacher and overall wonderful mentor. Check out how pretty it is!

And, of course, you can also see the bed that is in Kinsley's room. It was our guest room but once Little Lady comes, Jarred and I will be crashing there. Above the bed are some homemade decorations that Jarred and I put together...Jarred wanted to make a shelf so I found this idea on Pinterest. And I had this old canvas with another painting I had done, so I just painted over it :-)

Shout out to Hannah (aka our secret sibling) for the picture frame on the shelf :-)

And here is the dresser that we found on Craigslist and Jarred refinished and we will use it as her changing table - how cool did it turn out?? We also have a handcrafted mirror hanging above it.

And there is the crib, packed with our hospital bags! We're ready to go whenever she is!!

And, this was our last major purchase, thanks to my Grandma Frakes - our swing! I had picked out another swing/bouncer combo but then decided against it when we got a coupon in the mail for this swing. We use them in our NICU and I've heard great things about them - so, since there wasn't much of a price difference, we went with it! You'll have to google it or something - it's called a Mamaroo. Oh - and I might add, I assembled the whole thing all by myself :-) It's kind of a big deal!

And here's a view of the whole room from the door. I still have two small decorations to hang between the mirror (that's above the dresser/changing table) and the painting, but other than that, I think we are all done and ready to go!

Please continue to pray with us as we prepare for some major life changes! Please pray for us to have wisdom and to continually seek the Lord. We know He is provider, which He has proven over and over, but pray for us to have continued faith in Him and to always seek His counsel. It's amazingly true that His strength is made perfect in our weakness. The closer I get to parenthood, the more I realize my need for Him.

Winter in the Desert

Lately, it has actually been cold here! And, not just like, "cold for the desert" but like, actually cold. We've set some record lows the last few days! So, in order to keep the winter feel going - we've been burning a fire in our fireplace the last few nights. And...whenever there is a fire, it should be a requirement to make s'mores. So, that's exactly what we did!!

The wonderful fire constructed by my wonderful hubby!!

My final product - yummy s'more!!!

Showing off the valuable supplies!

Putting it all together!

Almost done!

Eating just a few shmellows to top him off!!

More pics from Christmas Break

Welp, we went to California over Christmas - as you already know. But here are just a few pictures from Jarred's phone during our trip :-)

The Black Pearl was at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library

Part of the Berlin Wall outside of the library

Jarred could be the president...pretty sure...

Ronald Reagan loved Jelly Belly's and so does my dad

And this is what the ocean looked like on Christmas day :-)

When we got back from CA we spent a few days with my grandparents and then Jarred and I both needed to work... Jarred actually had to work and I just had to finish my study guide for the internship. But, we managed to sneak in a bit more fun before going back to the daily grind. First, we started by seeing an Arizona basketball game. This was the crazy game Jarred posted about on Facebook with the very controversial last-minute buzzer-beater... I personally think the Colorado player beat the buzzer, but I won't complain. Unfortunately, we didn't get any pictures of us because we were in the dark nosebleeds...but here is the stadium!

The funny blimp thing flies around and drops T-shirts

And then we went on a couple of hikes! We hiked around Sabino Canyon - which I have shared pictures of before.  But Jarred really likes the purple cholla plants - so here is a great pic of one :-)

We also went to a new place to hike in Oro Valley. Surprisingly, we were sweating during the first 30 minutes and we touched some snow towards the end of the hike. Overall, it's a great place with lots of trails but little shade and it's expensive to get into!

Jarred with some pretty good looking Saguaro's!

Some Saguaro's will form a "crest" on top - this one has a crest with arms coming out of it - very unique!!

I just LOVE fresh water streams!! Favorite part of God's creation!

Me at 35+3 weeks preggers.

The bump at 36

Well, I'm officially 36 weeks today!! So thankful to have made it to this point in the pregnancy!!!!! We were told, as you know, that it is more likely that I go into preterm labor give my (potentially) misshapen uterus. We also know that many of those with the same type of uterus go full term with no complications. So, we've been praying for baby girl to continue to grow and develop and bake as long as she needs to. We feel so blessed to be a the point now where if she comes, it wouldn't be as life-threatening to her. Praise the Lord!!

So, here's the bump... pretty big I must say!!

In other news...I'm back to the daily grind at the internship. We started the foodservice/management rotation this week. My lanta...I don't remember a thing from my undergrad classes for this rotation - so I'm going to have to do more studying for the RD exam!!! ha! But the pace of this rotation is so much different than clinical!! These first two weeks are purely management of the entire foodservice system. So we've been doing small projects and auditing and such. But today, I think we spent 1.5 hours in meetings, 1.5 hours on our small projects and the rest of the day brainstorming ideas for our "special day." We have to plan an entire day of cafeteria foodservice at the hospital - we are responsible for the ordering, budgeting, scheduling, preparing...every aspect of the day!! And we have to have a theme and decorate the cafeteria and everything. So if you have any stellar ideas for themes that would be easy to decorate, cheap to purchase and easy to prepare... let me know :-)

oh - and to you fellow dietetics students - it is advantageous to pay attention in both your Management and Foodservice Management classes. You will have to know management theories for the RD exam, as well as food science, scoop and can sizes...basically everything that Mrs. Cox teaches you :-) So keep those books and notes - they WILL come in handy one day :-)

Pics from the parents visit

Opening presents from the baby shower

Look at that pile of loot!!!

Our first package of diapers :-)

Jarred managed to sneak one picture of my dad - behind the scenes!

First we opened presents from the Rushville baby shower, as you can see above. And then took maternity pics the next morning. Then we headed to grandpa and and grandma's and celebrated Christmas with them!

Just one quick pic of the group - dad was experimenting with his fish-eye lens :-)

After a weekend at the grandparents, Jarred took mom and dad for a hike, as you can see below

Mom - she's so cute :-)

I love this picture!! Too bad my dad isn't in any pictures - he was too busy being behind the camera...

Jarred's Parents Visit: Unfortunately, you have to get on facebook to see any pictures of his parents - we didn't take a single picture of them :-/ But here are a few from Jarred's phone that didn't make it to facebook.

We started off our weekend with a Christmas celebration!! Kinsley got some awesome Mizzou onesies and I got an awesome diaper bag!! I don't think anyone was ever so excited for a diaper bag! ha!

Can you see the Big Horn Sheep?

Jarred loves the coatimundi!

Aw!! Precious kitty cat all bundled up! I love him!

Thoughts after a message

This morning at church our  message was on 2 Corinthians 5:17 which reads:

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!"

The pastor made a few points that I wanted to share/discuss. First he stated that this verse is widely applicable as it states, "if anyone" implying that anyone is able to receive true life-changing transformation from Christ. He then stated the verse also covers a very narrow range as it states, "in Christ" meaning that only those who are in Christ can receive that transformation. 

This is the area that he spent a bit more time and discussed who is truly in Christ and who is not. He stated that those who practice religion are not in Christ but those who have a deep relationship with Christ are those who are "in Christ." He continued to say that those who love the Lord like they love their spouse and know the Lord like they know their spouse, those are the people who are in Christ. I kinda struggled with this. I've always had a difficult time saying I love the Lord because it is very difficult for me to grasp who the Lord is; and to love Him and not just what He has done. I know He is good and merciful and majestic and so many things but to me, He is also so unfathomable that to say I know Him and love Him like I love and know Jarred is very difficult. So does that mean I'm not in Christ? Food for thought...

The pastor then went on to describe the life-changing transformation that occurs after a person encounters Christ. This also made me think just a smidgen. Praise the Lord, I was raised in the church. I don't have this huge, crazy conversion story and I really do feel like the Lord has just always been a part of my life. So, after making a confession of faith and being baptized, I don't feel like my life dramatically changed. So, what does, "The old has gone, the new is here!" look like for those of us who were raised in the church? The pastor only really spoke about those who were blatantly not following Christ and then experienced this insane conversion moment - but what about us who don't have that same testimony? I mean, yes, obviously I have had moments in life where I can clearly see that the Lord has changed my life; like in recovering from an eating disorder, in overcoming anxiety in the midst of an internship and a pregnancy, in meeting my husband through a manipulative sister-in-law... so many ways I have encountered Him. But those weren't moments that lead to my conversion... Any thoughts on this topic??

Please feel free to comment on the "being in Christ" and the "old is gone, new is come" for those who were raised in the church :-)