merry christmas!

christmas in bellingham. a white christmas!! unbelievable. the first white christmas i can remember in a long time in bellingham. beautiful but i think the folks in bellingham are ready to welcome the rain and warmer weather (for not regularly getting snow the town is totally unprepared to clear the roads and so the roads are... dangerous). needless to say we had a great day being together. here are a few pictures.

here is dad and i explaining our white elephant gift card game. i don't look this pregnant all the time but as the day goes on my belly seems to expand. fun anyways to see the baby saying hello.
tk and me.

defense and jacob. i got them matching shirts - i think they like them. we are so happy to welcome jacob into our family. it was pretty funny yesterday hearing tim explain to jacob the intricacies of the latimer family christmas. :)

beautiful mom. working hard. she puts so much time and energy into christmas - it certainly is extra special because of her!!

we hope you all had a wonderful christmas. a yearly reminder of the goodness of a Father who sent His Son for you and for me.

thank you!

thank you to everyone who commented on my last post. super helpful!! and if anyone has any other thoughts please pass them along. last night i slept great! the first time in a few days. i tried not to stress too much about wandering onto my back but i am also on the hunt for a good pregnancy pillow.

sleepless night - need help :)

to all my pregnant or have been pregnant readers - i have a question for you!

sleeping positions. early in pregnancy i read up on different ideas and shortly thereafter began sleeping with a pillow under or between my legs. well recently i read that as i progress in my pregnancy it is bad for the baby to sleep on my back - something about there being a possibility of limiting blood to the baby. and so for the past few nights i have tried to only sleep on my side, but i am not loving not being able to sleep on my back. or maybe it is just knowing i can't that makes sleeping on my side seem uncomfortable. i will for sure talk to our midwife about this at my next appointment but i am needing some insight here. did i just read an over-zealous article? or should i seriously commit to sleeping on my side? thoughts, please!

i also don't think my sleep was helped any last night with all of my christmas excitement. still a kid at heart and i love christmas!

ps - i do believe the Lord can and will keep us up at night for different reasons - and i do try to take advantage of the time i am just laying awake. but still... a pregnant girl has got to sleep and i know jesus agrees :)

a walk down memory lane

well many of you have not heard the story of me passing out in a walmart - so i thought i would entertain you with a re-telling.

it was spring break of 2002. my dear friend nicole and i were out in bakersfield, california staying with her family. we went to the beach, the movies, ate out at some amazing mexican restaurants and relaxed by the pool. the break was going very well. we were even expecting a brief visit from our crazy guy friends who were driving to california from indiana for their spring break (one of which was my future husband - he has his own stories to tell from that spring break).

until... i think it was a sunday. we went to church and on the way we stopped by starbucks. i believe i got a grande non-fat latte, my standard starbucks drink at the time. i may or may not have gotten anything to eat. i probably just had a piece of toast or something small before we left the house. during church i began to get horrible cramps. i knew that if i didn't get some pain medicine in me soon it was not going to be a pleasant day. and on the way home we stopped at walmart (for some other necessary items). and on the way to walmart i took a few pain pills... (note to self: not a good decision to take pain pills on an almost empty stomach).

we quickly found the necessary items and headed to the check out. as we approached the check-out i began to feel a little light headed. and i remember thinking... something doesn't feel right... i also remember looking over at the gum and candy to try to distract myself from the dizziness i was beginning to experience and i remember beginning to black out. and poor nico - probably got very little warning. for the next thing i know i am on the ground in the check-out line. (i think she caught me to help break my fall, what a good friend!)

and walmart employees are surrounding us asking all kinds of questions - mainly answered by nicole, who i believe is near tears (or at least in a state of freaking out) -

"are you pregnant?" (nicole answers - no)

"have you girls been drinkin?" (nicole answers - no, we have just been to church)

"are you her mother? (addressing nicole)" (nicole answers - no...!)

somehow in the midst of this craziness nicole or i - i don't really remember - pay for the items we came in for - or who knows maybe they gave them to us for free because of the scene... and for some reason we were also able to escape. i think the walmart employees were happy to not have to call 911 or didn't think of it fast enough or were simply too stunned that someone who hadn't been drinking, wasn't pregnant and wasn't with her mother could pass out in the check-out line.

nicole draped my arm across her shoulders and helped walk me to the door. where her sister kristin was waiting with the car - apparently i went down and kristin sprang into action and ran to get the car. so nico helped me into the car and i think i barely made it home. because unfortunately when i do pass out the aftermath isn't pretty either - usually involving getting sick and needing to stay in bed for the rest of the day (which unfortunately both occurred on this occasion). i think i actually might have gotten sick in the car... again the memory is a bit fuzzy here.

needless to say i think that if our friendship wasn't already solidified for life after a semester of being together in israel - walmart sealed the deal for nicole and i. such a good friend. something i think we both will never forget. lessons learned: do not take pain pills on an empty stomach, it is always important to remember that i have a sensitive body and can pass out easily, and always be with a dear friend in walmart just in case.

just another day being me

this morning tim and i went to get my blood drawn - the midwife had some normal things she wanted my blood tested for and so i had to go to a lab near our house to get it done. she gave me vague directions but we ended up finding it just fine.

i had a really nice lab tech draw my blood and as we were talking about baby names i began to feel... well... light headed.

not a good sign. i have a tendency to... well... pass out. i have passed out in all kinds of places - english class, my aunt's hair salon, my parent's bedroom and walmart (ask me or my dear friend nicole later for those of you who haven't heard the funny story).

so when i began to feel a bit light headed and could feel my temperature rising i looked down and noticed she was just beginning the last of 5 or 6 viles of blood. i asked her, "are you about done? i am not feeling well all of a sudden."

well she snapped into recovery action. she took my coat, closed the arms of the chair (so i didn't pass out and fall to the floor), quickly got me some juice and then put two cold clothes on my forehead.

i kept apologizing but every time she said, "it is no big deal. this actually happens all of the time."

i asked to go lay down and so she helped me to the nice recliner chair just a few feet away. she then went to get tim. tim came in and just smiled. he held my hand as i drank my juice. and slowly but surely i began to feel better.

within about 10 minutes we were on our way home. and i was feeling much better. thankful i didn't actually pass out. thankful also for a husband who loves me in spite of my crazy, sensitive body.

walking in a winter wonderland

more snow fell on vancouver last night and it continues to fall outside. in an effort to avoid bad drivers and protect myself and our unborn child i opted to not drive to work today. so i took the sky train, which involves, what used to be a 20 min walk, a now 30 min walk to the station. i never imagined how much carrying a baby in just the very beginnings of the second trimester would effect my breathing so much. oh well. i march on. i know there are buses that could take me there but walking is more fun, especially today. i loved every moment of walking in the snow. the snow was falling softy, big huge flakes, and i listened to amy grant sing christmas songs (thanks janae for the cd!). it was amazing!! i felt like a little kid singing to myself and marching down the snow covered streets.

one of my favorite moments of the walk was seeing a mom of two little boys in an all out run as she pulled them in a sled down a hill on their way to school. the boys squealed the whole way down. what a cool mom?! i want to be that kind of mom. a crazy for your kids kind of mom.

should i be glad that my pants don't fit?!

yes!! this morning i wasn't feeling all that pregnant and then i went to put on a pair of pants and found i couldn't even get the zipper up - yeah!! who would have thought one would rejoice in one's pants not fitting :) well thankfully my sweet mother in law sent me a handy piece of spandex so that i can wear my pants a bit longer. so on came the spandex and to work i went with half zipped pants (thankfully no one can tell and thankfully brooke was pregnant before me and asked for such a piece of spandex herself - i must give brooke credit for her amazing pregnancy find). so thank you vickie - i am putting your gift to good use. and this way i can continue to wear my clothes and not be worried about... well... anything embarrassing...

also tim turned in his paper yesterday afternoon and is now in full rest mode!! i think he needs it because we both were fast asleep by 8:30 last night.

a date

tim and i went on a date last night. on one of the many pregnancy websites i read suggested husbands take out their wives to celebrate the coming of the second trimester and hey, i thought that was a pretty great idea. and plus i haven't felt up to going out in a while so it felt so so good to go out and have a meal. we walked and found this cute Japanese place on commercial drive. and let me tell you - it was AMAZING!! all day i have been thinking about it. and i hope we will be able to go out again soon. it was hard going to a Japanese place and not eating raw fish or drinking Japanese beer - but i had some delicious prawn tempura, avocado/cream cheese rolls and california rolls. yum, yum, yum. and some warm tea. even writing about it now makes me smile. so good. so good. did i mention it was good?! and tim and i loved being together. recognizing times out and quiet are something to treasure with life changing around the corner.

hope you all had a great weekend.

it's snowing in vancouver!!

yes, that is right. snow is falling as i write. i can't see it because my office doesn't have a window, but i know that it's falling out there. so great. so fun.

a small belly

well not the greatest picture - but hey, we still don't have a viewfinder. we knipps are going for a family ban on good cameras (brooke and gabe's is struggling as well). but a new camera is on the horizon... the slightly distant horizon but on the horizon none the less.

i am off to bed - going to read east of eden and fall asleep.

ps. i just asked tim if i look pregnant in this picture and he said, "not really." so use your imagination :)

sleeping

i have been doing a lot of sleeping lately. i find about 7:30 my eyes begin to feel very heavy. sunday night i attempted to read in the living room while tim studied for hebrew... and within 10 min i was fast asleep. last night wasn't much different. the hard part about last night was i got home from work at 8 - had dinner - and went straight to bed. no time for much else. and still when i woke up this morning i felt like i could have slept for 5 more hours. oh well. little and big reminders that life is changing.

on a fun note - i am wearing a maternity shirt today that came in the mail over the weekend and am loving how it shows off my small but growing tummy. i was so excited about it i had to go show my outfit to drew and bekah before i left for work :) small victories. big joys.

we're going on a christmas tree hunt...

Dad ready to pick out an awesome Christmas tree - lots of trees to look at - here i am with d and jacob
jacob and dad bring the tree home and get it set-up
d and tk decorating the tree - tim's favorite part of the day was decorating the tree :)
sisters
tim and jacob love hanging ornaments :)
we're going to have a baby - smile.
the tree is now decorated and it looks pretty good if i don't say so myself. and i continue to be filled with thanksgiving for a more settled tummy and lack of intense nausea. second trimester here i come.

ps - the reason mom isn't in any of the pics is because she was busy making chocolate balls while we decorated the tree. what a wonderful mother?! one requests something and she makes it happen. i haven't had one yet but defense, jacob and dad boast that they are amazing!

tk's bday

tk's birthday was yesterday. we were in bellingham for the celebration. here is tim showing of his first gift of kitchen ware - a pan to cook eggs.
the above pic tim is opening a 2,000 year old oil lamp found in jerusalem (dated from the time of Jesus). my parents got it for him in israel and he was super pumped about it! tim requested a pumpkin pie for dessert. he loved blowing out his candles. and below is dad and defense. excited to be celebrating with tim.
tim has been so great these past 6 weeks (taking care of me, running our house and doing full time school)- life has been very full for him! he has one more week of school - full of class, tests and a big paper. he will be thankful to be done but has loved his first semester at regent.

christmas break here comes tk! :)

due date

well i just got off the phone with the midwife who was happy to tell me that our due date is June 21st. sounds like a nice time to be born - although i secretly hope the baby is born on an even number day :) i am also sure, however, that i will be happy and excited and ready for the baby to be born whenever he/she is ready.

here's to a summer of new life.

Ultrasound

I LOVE ultrasounds!! today was amazing. i loved every moment of it. we had a very friendly technician - who pointed out everything. he also printed a number of pictures. from the measurements he said i am 11 weeks and 5 days along. so right about where we thought. that would put my due date sometime in mid-june. i imagine we will get a firmer date on thursday at our next appointment with our midwife.

all day i have reflected on the amazing experience. i am so in love. i just keep thinking about the little one and looking at the pictures.

tim took a video from the time (thanks bek for the suggestion and use of your camera). the password for the video is Baby Bud.


Ultrasound Take 1 from Kristi Knipp on Vimeo.

small victories

in life i try my best to appreciate small victories. like being able to do two loads of laundry on sunday without needing to take a nap or staying up until 8 pm to hang out with friends. small victories. well yesterday i had not a small (although it might seem like that to some) but a huge victory.

i road the sky train to work!! i have not been able to ride the sky train to work in 6 weeks. the last time i did was before i knew we were pregnant and i cried as i said good-bye to tim because i was so nervous 'this anxiety i was experiencing but not knowing where it was coming from' would cause me to throw-up on the train. thankfully that time i made it to work, barely. well yesterday i did great!!

i enjoyed the 25 min walk to the sky train station and relaxed comfortably on the train for my 20 min ride. and the way home my trip was just as enjoyable. i wasn't even tempted to call tim to come and pick me up with the car but loved every moment of the rainy walk home - just filled the thankfulness for the ability to do so without fear of dramatic consequence.

so folks - i tried not to get my hopes up that these wonderful feelings would continue indefinitely - but really, lets be honest, it is too late - i am not looking back to my 5 weeks of constant yuck. i love the second trimester and its lack (at least up until this point) of extreme constant nausea and frequent needs to be sick. and i am praying it continues.

and in just a few hours tim and i will get to see our precious baby. so excited!!

yum, yum, yum

tim picked me up from the colorado springs airport last night and guess where we went first... CHIPOTLE!! i didn't have time to grab dinner in denver because my layover was so short. oh darn. let me just say i was so happy. for some mysterious reason we didn't make it to chipotle when we were here in october. all is now right in the world. the chipotle was delicious. and it is great to be in colorado with the knipps.

happy thanksgiving!!

ready for rest

tim is leaving for colorado tomorrow. i will miss him but i am thrilled he is able to be with his family for a whole week. and hopefully he can get some rest. tim has been crazy busy with school the past few weeks- this was evidenced the other night when we were having mexican food for dinner.

as tim was serving himself he decides to be very creative - remembering some green leafy herb in the fridge (how could kristi not get out the cilantro he wonders?...). tim puts a generous amount of such herb on his burrito and comes to sit down.

i wasn't paying attention to this process - so when he bites into his burrito and asks - "why does my dinner taste funny?" - i have no idea what he is talking about.

he says, "yeah i put that cilantro on my burrito... was that cilantro?..." knowing full well that we do not have any cilantro in the fridge i ask, "let me see it."

tim pulls out a huge strand of parsley. (i had purchased some fresh parsley for a chili i made a couple weeks ago - thankfully it was still good - surprisingly). i tell tim he put parsley on his burrito and whoa - did tim help himself to the parsley.

the moment becomes all that more funny when he stands up to go to the counter to operate on his burrito by carefully removing all of the parsley and i realize he has a long white sock hanging out the back of his pants.

i laugh even now as i think about it. i kindly ask, "um tim... why do you have a sock tucked into the back of your pants?"

"what?..." he then turns to see the sock - and says, "huh, i wonder how long that has been there."

poor tim. he needs rest. and i am glad he will get some very soon.

other people's children

the last few weeks i have been thinking about my heart for other people's children. one of the first precious ones that comes to mind is averi matthews. i had the great joy of watching averi one day a week for almost her first year of life. moments holding her, feeding her and playing with her i will never forget. averi gave me a small glimpse of what being a mother will look and feel like and her sweet spirit captured my heart. when we left denver one of the hardest good-byes for me was saying goodbye to averi.

the hommes children also come to mind as i think about kids i simply adore. the hommes children are hilarious. i have fond memories of watching connor and dylan run around in circles to the olympics theme song, hearing them sing their favorite praise songs, maci performing 'camp rock' and most recently smiling as sonya told us how dylan and connor told her before we came over to visit that, "tim and kristi are our friends too and we want to play with them!"

i could go on and on but i can't finish without mentioning the moser children. talk about steal your heart. ben, isa and sam are wonderful. hearing ben exclaim "kristi!" with every bit of excitement in his 3 year old body when he sees me for the first time each day, isa running to me with a huge smile on her face just wanting to be picked up and sam - sweet sam - coming upstairs to see sam watching "baby praise" kills me every time. the noise they make above us causes tim and i to smile on a daily basis.

all that to say - the Lord has used and will continue to use these precious ones in profound ways in my life. i trust all of you out there who are parents will agree with me that children truly are one of God's greatest gifts to us. it saddens my heart to hear stories of parents whose perspective is so torn that they see their children as a burden, a distraction, or simply don't stop to pay attention to the treasure before them. so until the Lord blesses tim and i with some little people - thanks to all of you who share your sweet, funny, wonderful children with us. we love them!

remedy

christmas eve last year we found out ken, tim's dad, had cancer. a huge tumor had developed in his abdomen. thankfully we were all together as a family. we realized once again that things change. and we went to christmas eve service as a family.

at the service we sang Remedy - a david crowder band song.
Here we are
Here we are
Bandaged and bruised
Awaiting a cure
Here we are

Here You are
Here You are
Our beautiful King
Bringing relief
Here You are with us

little did i know this song would become a significant part of my processing of ken's cancer journey and bring great hope as tim and i struggled with being so far away.

in the days and months that followed christmas eve the Lord in a myriad of ways revealed His nearness to us as family. and by the Lord's grace we walked (through separated by thousands of miles) together as a family - praying, waiting, hoping.

well there are many things in life i do not understand. as i write this i remember two dear ones to tim and i. one who lost his mother this last week to breast cancer - a beautiful woman - who Jesus used in powerful ways to bring His compassion, wisdom, and love to aurora, colorado and beyond. the other friend who yesterday remembered what would have been her dad's 60th birthday - his body also torn by cancer (guaranteed Jesus had one amazing surprise birthday party for him yesterday). one thing is certain for both of these dear ones - their parents are with Jesus! although they are comforted by the peace of this reality - the pain of these significant loses is still very real to our friends.

and so i come to this place of immense thanksgiving. for on friday ken called to tell us he had his results from his pet scan and there is NO sign of cancer. praise the Lord! and we as a family are grateful. for now more than ever we realize the true gift it will be to spend this holiday season together.

on the way to work this morning Remedy came on the radio. and as tears fell down my face I was reminded that -

He is the one Who has saved us
He is the one Who forgave us
He is the one who has come
And is coming again
He’s the remedy

Oh, I can’t comprehend
I can’t take it all in
Never understand
Such perfect love come
For the broken and beat
For the wounded and weak
Oh, come fall at His feet
He’s the remedy
He’s the remedy

Lord thank you. May we never forget the gift we have in one another - of the blessing of being able to be together. May we never take for granted your nearness and abundance. May you reveal your love and tender mercy to our dear friends who mourn. May we be Jesus to the world - a part of His redemptive work. Amen.

rain in the forecast

for the next 10 days. welcome to the northwest. :)

we are headed to bellingham for the weekend - i think faith is the most excited. personally i am looking forward to my mom's cooking and a chance to sleep in. My aunt and uncle will also be there tonight - so i hope to have my hair cut in the morning! all-and-all we are very excited it is the weekend!

an Obama celebration in Canada...

yes, it's true. this morning on the way to work i heard about a celebration that is planned in downtown Vancouver should Obama become the next president of the United States. Granted Canadians are not allowed to vote in the U.S. election, but that doesn't mean people up here don't care. people are talking about it, tee-shirts are being sold on the streets and signs are posted in windows.

more than anything seeing the election from the perspective of another country has re-affirmed the reality in my mind that America holds much power and influence around the world. and because of our great power we also carry great responsibility. so go out and vote - people up here wish they could - and remember the world is watching. may the Lord grant us wisdom and grace.

(at this point the radio djs didn't know of any McCain celebration planned... which i think points to the general Canadian hope for the election... granted it doesn't speak for everyone)

after a long and patient wait...

our home (we live on the bottom floor)the office/tim's closet/weight room/random storage

our bedroom

the bathroom
the living room
tim and faith by the fire place
all of the books
the kitchen (one big room with the living room)

mom and dad came up yesterday - it was so great!! they brought lunch and snacks and our plants (among many other things). they helped us hang pictures - another huge step in making our place feel more like home. we are incredibly thankful to live so close to them!! they also came to celebrate isa's second birthday. (i am sure there are or will be soon pictures of the party on the moser blog).

hope you all are having a pleasant fall afternoon.

just on the street where we live

here is our street. we are fortunate to have old growth trees along the entire street. and it looks beautiful right now with all of the falling leaves. and for some reason when i think about posting pictures of our street i can't get the my fair lady song "on the street where you live" out of my head. so there you go :)

living life in the northwest

not much has been happening the past few weeks as tim and i settle into life in vancouver. just continuing the process of feeling more at home. our apartment is coming together and i hope to post pictures soon. faith is used to her new surroundings - enjoying early morning fetch and the sounds of little feet running above her. we are simply loving being housemates with the mosers. i love being greeted by ben and isa's sweet excited hellos. also times talking with drew and bekah have been wonderful. and my parents are coming up this weekend to visit!! how cool is that?! i can't wait to see them. i am also feeling more comfortable in my job. tim had his first big tests yesterday and they went fine.

the Lord has been good to us and we are so thankful to be living life in the northwest.

Sari Bari

Word Made Flesh is pretty much amazing and they are doing incredible things around the world - building community and living amongst the poorest of the poor in urban settings. Tim and I had the chance to hang out with the staff in Nepal this summer and they are great! We also had the opportunity to meet the staff from Calcutta. Amazing women who have a huge heart for women who have been involved in sex trafficking. They began a business to empower women who have come out of the dark life of the streets. They call it Sari Bari.

Sari Bari's mission is amazing and the products are awesome. So if you need a gift for someone or a treat for yourself - support this amazing organization and buy stuff!! or at least check out the website and tell other people.

Here is the link: http://www.saribari.com/

ugly tile and the morning with faith

so i just have to laugh as i think about the new tile in our bathroom. we had to get one wall of tile ripped out because the wood behind it was rotten (yuck!). well the nice, but not super design oriented, repairman put in tile that he tried to match but totally doesn't. To make matter's worse the tile pattern doesn't even line up with the other two walls of tile. I also feel bad because it looks like not that long ago the tile was redone - and redone in a really nice way (with an attractive trim and everything). Well the tile job is no longer impressive. I will post a picture when he is done - should be today. (Oh and bekah and drew think the tile is just going to fall off because he didn't put any initial grout in... if anyone visits beware of falling tile). haha.

this morning faith and i had a moment outside. the poor dog has been stuck inside the past few days because tim has been busy with school and i have been at work. So this morning I had some extra time and decided to take faith out in the front yard to play fetch. Well she had the best time running down the grassy yards of all the neighbors chasing her ball with a huge smile on her face. And for me it was very enjoyable to be out in the morning air (it had just finished raining so the smell was incredible). As we were playing I was reflecting on my love for my sweet dog. She is just so precious. So thankful for faith today!

disoriented

we have new carpet!! and it looks really nice. unfortunately it wasn't finished until 9 pm on monday. so we haven't had much time to get settled. and this morning i was feeling a bit anxious and i couldn't figure out why - well after thinking about it a bit i realized i was feeling disoriented because our home is totally unsettled. boxes are still everywhere - random stuff at every turn and now our bathroom is being torn-up by a repair man to fix some rotten wood. (i am thankful it is getting taken care of but just adds one more thing - so thankful for drew and bekah who let me use their shower this morning).

in many ways this feels like the longest transition ever. i am hoping by the end of this weekend life feels a bit more settled - because our home is more put together. when things are more in place i will post pictures. i am happy with the way it is coming together. and i am trying to remember to breathe and stand in the abundant peace of Christ.

one other thing - i don't know if anyone saw the biggest loser last night but i was pretty worked up by the end of it. i was only able to watch the last 45 minutes but... wow. after the show ended bekah and i processed the show for a few minutes(surprisingly tim didn't stay for the debriefing session) and even as i was trying to fall asleep tim asked, "are you still worked up about the biggest loser?" and i had to admit that i was. poor amy p. got kicked off. i wasn't surprised just frustrated by heba's decision. i know she made an alliance with brady and vickie - but this was her chance to eliminate brady - who does she think is going to go eventually... she is! i know, i know - it is just a show. but it gets under my skin how rude and bitter and unkind people can be. and i have to be honest - because of the things brady, vickie and heba say i don't like them very much. oh well. did anyone else get fired up about the biggest loser last night? let me know.

welcome home orphan annie

after a very long day we bought a new car (well a used car but new to us) - and i am calling her annie. we went to a number of different dealerships and tim had researched a number of different private owners and at the end of the day we drove home a new car. because we will be crossing into canada today i felt much better about spending a bit more money and going through a dealership - as well as knowing the car had been looked over and had no immediate problems. all that to say here is a little bit about the car. it is a 2002 subaru forrester - 77,000 miles - immaculate on the inside. a rack on the top. and was previously owned by a couple in their 70's. we saw all of the maintenance records for the car and man-oh-man they had the car in every 3,000 miles for oil changes and every regular check-up you can imagine. they took great care of the car. we feel very fortunate to have found a car so well taken care of and at such a reasonable price. and let me say i will be totally fine if we don't step into a car dealership in the near future. ed - our sales guy - was great. but 8 hours total in dealerships in one day is a long time...

why annie you may wonder? well annie was my absolute favorite movie as a little girl. and the car is red. (i never thought i would own a red car). and annie's dress in the movie (the one i had to match that my grandma made) was red. on the way home from the dealership her name came to me and i think it is appropriate. so annie - welcome home. i hope you treat us better than our last car (who didn't have a name... maybe that was part of the problem).

this afternoon we will pack annie up and head north. we have been spending the weekend in bellingham after a great week in colorado. but i am ready to be home. we are getting new carpet in tomorrow!!! and after that we will finally be able to settle in.

happy birthday gabellujah!

Happy Birthday Gabe! Today is your 27th birthday, just in case you forgot. You are a beautiful man Gabe, and of you it can truly be said...

Woman want him, and men want to be him.

(sorry ladies, he's taken). Gabe, on the other 364 days a year I prefer to hold my older brother rights over your head. No red lentil soup for me my friend. But today Gabe, you are the king! I hand over all honorary older sibling rights for a 24 hr period. Boss away! (don't get too comfy though.)

In honor of Gabe:

A man with the strength of Samson,
the looks of Adonis,
the body of Hercules,
for whom the riddles of this world are like a child's ABCs.
Who else holds together Francis' compassion
and Augustine's mind?
He could chase Odysseus across the ocean,
and wrestle Beowulf to the ground.
Gilgamesh would flee in his boat at your approach.
Could you best Maimonides, Aquinas, and Averroës,
with half you brain tied behind your back?
Certainly,
where's the challenge?
May you ever write with the Shakespeare's pen,
Hemingway's paper,
and the Dostoevsky's ink.
Would that Homer had a man such as this to write of.


Happy Birthday Gabe!

a weekend in indiana

tim's grandparents celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary this weekend. the whole family traveled to plymouth indiana to celebrate. we had a great weekend full of time as a family. tim and i were able to take a bit of time away to go to taylor's homecoming and see some friends. now we are in colorado springs for the week - enjoying time with tim's family.

our yellow car - very fun to drive.
on a walk with grandpa stockman. the man is a serious walker. i mistakenly wore my new shoes and suffered the blisters from the walk throughout the weekend.
grandpa stockman and tk. tim has many many good memories of adventures with grandpa stockman. bike trips across iowa, harvesting maple syrup, traveling to hawaii, etc... i have no doubt that tim's adventurous spirit is something he inherited from grandpa stockman.
we spent the night with my friend lauren in muncie. la and i have known each other since the summer of 2001 when we were both counselors at honey rock. my relationship with her is one of the greatest treasures that came from that difficult summer.

lauren's sweet boy judah
la and i - she is 3 weeks away from meeting baby number 2 - a girl.
nico! catching precious few moments together. i love, love my dear friend.
sisters hanging out after church in the youth building. the stockman's donated money from the sale of grandpa stockman's father's land for the youth building. so cool. and their desire is for the building to honor him and serve the youth of their church - to the glory of the Lord and the further advancement of his kingdom.
the gray team - being encouraged to smile as big as possible. gabe is awarded first place.
we spent a good deal of time at taylor with tk's good friends - unfortunately i didn't get any pictures of them - so i am hoping to get some from the other ladies who took lots of pictures. i am still using the broken camera. this weekend only increased the motivation to get a new camera.

happy light

well it is 7 in the morning and i am blogging - why? you may ask - well...

tim had to leave at 6:40 this morning for school (poor guy) and as he is the one to make us yummy egg breakfast i got up to eat with him. when i slowly came out of our bedroom i heard all kinds of crashing coming from the kitchen. in typical tim surprising fashion he was in full effect. he had gone to the garage to get our new pan (thanks vickie for the bday gift!) and our happy light (again props to mama knipp who loaned us her light). the happy light is huge and was unpacked and on the kitchen table. tim was bustling around like a busy bee. all i had to do was make the coffee.

when asked what motivated him to go get the happy light, unpack it and plug it in tim simply said, "it sounded nice." another great idea for tim - as the weather here has been gloomy the past few days. everyone can use a little happy (full spectrum of light) now and again in the northwest.

tim is gone now and i am headed to get ready for the day but the happy light is still on. i think after sitting with it for 40 min i am good to go. but i wouldn't be surprised if i wake up on a regular basis to a little happy.

(shout-out to defense - writing happy over and over reminds me of 'happy soap' from the thrill of it all - good times with doris day - i watched it recently - surprisingly tim wasn't interested in watching it with me - some things do never change).

choose life

In my life things come in waves - I get stuck on certain foods (currently stuck - ie: repeatedly having an appetite for the same food over and over again - olives, cheese-its, red wine, jalapenos...), one of my first favorite words was "again" - my poor mother had to read the same books over and over and have Annie constantly playing, and i learn things in themes. I am thankful for the perfect reality of having a Creator who knows me intimately and meets me in the unique ways in which He created me.

For those of you who have been with me on this blog journey for a while may remember my struckness in the area of falling this past spring - a perfect example of the Lord using a myriad of ways to teach me about myself and Himself. Well I have found myself smashed into another theme which I wanted to share with all of you - choose life.

This journey started over a year ago in a session with one of my clients. We were talking about the importance of being mindful of our thoughts during the day and being intentional to stop thoughts that are lies - replacing the thoughts with truth. She appropriately and extremely articulately said, "I have to tell myself to choose life - to recognize the areas where my thoughts are focused on things in the arena of death and stop those thoughts and to focus on things/thoughts that are true - i have to choose life." You have to love it when the Lord uses people in your life that you are serving to teach you incredible lessons. Well my clients words of choosing life have stayed with me.

Well, more recently in my reading of Deuteronomy I came across this passage in chapter 30:

(19) This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live (20) and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

What is choosing life: love the Lord, listen to His voice, hold fast to Him (just what i was struck by a week or so previous).

To hit the point out the park - I was at a meeting hearing about a friend's mission to the community of City Heights in San Diego and during her sharing she spoke the words, "I have to remind myself in my thoughts to choose life."

choose life, choose life, choose life. life and death are both out there in this world - fighting for our attention. i want to more fully, more completely, more regularly to choose life. choose life in my conversations, in my thoughts and in my behavior. i want to love the Lord in these things, listen to His voice in these things and hold fast to Him in these things - i want to choose life. and in this way i hope to honor Him who created me to be stuck, the One who gave me life.

moving day

today is the day. tim and i will leave to pick up the moving truck in just a few minutes. then we (with the help of my fam) will load it up and head north. we have an itemized list of everything we own and hope that the border doesn't present too much of a problem. i imagine we will spend the night painting and getting this organized. and tomorrow morning we will do the majority of the unloading of the truck. we are for sure getting new carpet (yeah!) - and we hope that will happen the monday we return from colorado. i will post pictures soon.

whelp better get going.

ps - tim and i talked with gabe last night and gabe spoke of bobby beginning to show by brooke's growing tummy. how cool?! we can't wait to see!!

one last thing - yesterday i had a great day at work. i continue to get a better feel for what i will be doing. and next week i will begin calling clients to set up times to meet them after we return from the midwest/colorado. please pray for smooth transitions - as all of them will be adjusting to me as i am adjusting to the new position.

and as tim and i have reflected over the multitude of change which is happening we are overwhelmed with thankfulness for the Lord's provision. He is so good! and i rejoice because my heart has truly been still these past few months - no anxiety or depressive moments. so maybe i am getting pretty good at this transition thing - who knows. i am, however, ready for more constancy in our life. ok really have to go now :)

first day of work

yesterday was my first day of work. it went well - a little boring to be honest. but i suppose that is to be expected given i was reading polices and procedures all day (important but not a thrilling experience). Today continues to be full of getting to know the rhythm of this place. I imagine that as i get into the work itself i will love it.

in other move news - i picked out colors for our apartment and hope to have the painting done before we leave for the midwest (a week from tomorrow we are headed to indiana for tim's grandparent's 60th wedding anniversary and then have a 5 day layover in denver - so exciting!!). i realized this was the first time i have chosen colors for a home since tim and i have been married - if you can imagine when tim's vote was cast for the color of our bedroom he voted for more of a brown than light lavender... oh well. :)

i will post pictures of the place once the painting is done. we would appreciate your prayers for a smooth move this weekend, especially that the border guard we have is kind and gracious.

pics of d's birthday

we began the day with a trip to Woods coffee with mom - a rainy day but a great day for coffee.

d - opening up some presents
faith enjoying the wrapping paper
time to sing - defense a little apprehensive on dad's candle display... haha
tk and me.

today is a sunny day in bellingham. tim and i head to vancouver tomorrow night because tuesday i begin the new job and we will be moving up officially on friday. vancouver here we come.

happy birthday sister!

speaking of the best gifts of all time - well danielle takes the cake. today is her 24th birthday. and 24 years ago i had no idea how my life would change forever. basically she is the greatest and being her sister is one of the greatest joys of my life. she was the best playmate because she would always do what i told her to do, didn't care if she only had one necklace while i took 10 for myself... (and the hat - purse and watch) and contantly made me laugh - good belly laughs. danielle continues to be, not just one of my favorite playmates, but is one of my closest friends.

defense we celebrate you today and praise the Lord for His good work in you. love you!

a job!!!

yes!!! that's right!!! i have one!!! and i am thrilled and overwhelmed with feelings of thanksgiving. after countless applications, the enormous hassle of getting a work permit and just one interview i am now employed. tim actually found the job for me on craigslist (the one and only time he suggested one because it looked just perfect for me). i will be working for the lower mainland purpose society as a therapist. i will primarily work with 10-14 year olds and their families. it is a 28 hour position, which is perfect - as i have been praying for a job that is 30 hours a week. and it pays enough that i won't have to find another job (and neither will tim). i start next tuesday. and will work for 3 days and then take a 3 day weekend to move into our apartment. and not too long after that tim and i will be headed east (to indiana and then colorado) for a week (again, so thankful for understanding in being gone so soon after starting).

i believe this is a gift wrapped in a big red bow from the greatest gift giver of all time. i have been praying for greater trust in the Lord's provision and i even though i don't understand (nor deserve) His favor - He has provided abundantly at every turn for tim and i in planting us perfectly in vancouver. thank you all for praying with us for a job for me. the Lord is so good!

phantom

last night to celebrate danielle's 24th birthday - she, my mom and me went to see phantom. it was amazing! we had a great night - shopping, eating at cheesecake factory and seeing the show. so fun. i just love spending time with my mom and sister and thrilled that danielle wanted to
see phantom for her birthday.

danielle looking 6 inches taller than me. what is new?!
defense really into the bread at cheesecake :)
laughing during intermission at the showwhat a great night!