So long, September!

September has been a pretty awesome month.

Some exciting things that we did:

*1) Traveled to Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington to see grandparents and family. It was so awesome to see everyone together. I absolutely love how green it is there!

 {view from our hotel room.}

*2) Ordered a new dining room set while in Portland. We don't have West Elm here in Oklahoma (surprise, surprise!). However, I am still slightly obsessed with that store. So...we ordered a table while we were in Portland and it is getting delivered to the house this Thursday! I'm glad I waited to order the table until I saw it in person because the one I wanted online ended up being the one I hated in store. We found one that we both loved and I cant wait to post photos of it once it gets here!

{spending the day shopping in Portland.}

*3) Went back home to see family and enjoy the good 'ol Orange County. Spent time with my best friend (who I'll have to do a whole separate blog about later on), walked around with my dad at the harbor, went shopping with my godmother, saw my neighbors that I grew up with, walked around the pier with my dad, hung out in Malibu with my aunt & uncle, and pretty much just relaxed. You know...I miss family, I don't miss OC. I miss Pedros tacos, I don't miss the traffic to get down there. However...I REALLY do miss my runs on the beach.

{since we were 10 years old yo}

{Loved waking up to this in the morning. I've missed this.}

{Daddy and me date place since I was...probably 5 years old}

{Living in OK..I now have an appreciation for route 66 stuff! ha}

*4) Went to a Dodgers game with my dad, aunt & uncle...and let me tell you--I converted. Yes. I said it. I'm a Dodgers fan. I grew up going to Angels games...shoot, I spent most of college nights at Angels Stadium. But being at Dodgers stadium was a whole other feeling. The fans actually enjoy baseball and not just the beer. They get mad at the umpires together, they cheer and high five together..it's not social hour...it's baseball time! I love the Angels but I really enjoy watching Dodgers baseball. I may/may not have a Dodgers hat in the mail waiting for me.

{our view} 

*5) We told family & friends that we are expecting the most precious miracle from God....our baby due in March. BEST.NEWS.EVER!
*6) Got to see our baby on an ultrasound and he/she looked like a real baby! I had my first ultrasound at 6 wks so it was just a cute little blog. It was so insane to see our little baby jumping and turning all over the place! Can't wait to find out the gender in just 16 (hopefully short) days!
*7) Bought a new desk and moved the office downstairs...time to clean out the "old" office & make room for nursery preparations!
*8) Found my parents house that they are moving into in just 31 days! It's going to be so nice having them in the same state again...and ESPECIALLY the same city! *Happy dance!*
*9) I worked all day yesterday (Sunday) and was called in early today. Is it the weekend yet?!
*10) We made a budget plan & have our plans for our house that we're going to purchase. Can't wait to be starting/sharing that adventure when it gets here (after baby is born). :)

Bring it on October. We're ready for you! Big things happening in October: all I can think about is finding out if baby is a he or a she in T minus 16 days!

Smile & finding strength through Him to get through this week, 

-M 

Philippians 4:13 

The Saturday Bump: 15 weeks

I think I should change the title of this post to "nobumpdate" because I can still button my jeans and have hardly any evidence of the sweet miracle shacking up in my belly. I notice it because it went from a six pack to a baby pack (and I wouldn't have it any other way) but to 99.9% I just look puffy and bloated HAHA. The doctor reassured me that because I'm tall and (I quote) "have ab's of steel" (CHA CHING!) it will take a while for me to really show an actual bump and to enjoy it now. But honestly, I want the bump. People find out I'm pregnant and just give me a weird look. haha

How far along:

15 weeks, 1 day

Total weight gain:

1 single AWESOME pound. My doctor screamed when we finally saw the scale go up 1 pound. The past few appointments I was at 0 gain and 0 loss and she was annoyed with me.  

Size of baby:

Avocado. 

Maternity Clothes:

I don't own any. However, next weekend my hubby will be out of town and it will be time for me to venture out and buy some maternity basics so I have them for when I need them. I like the Gap Maternity store so I think I might start there (since their normal jeans are the perfect length for me & hopefully the maternity jeans mimic that). Any other suggestions? Motherhood seems way too expensive for basics. 

Gender:

We find out in 2 weeks and 4 days! 

Movement:

I think I felt a little flutter (popcorn feeling) when I was laying in bed the other night. But in the next few weeks these should be more obvious and I can't wait!

Sleep:

Knocked out & loving it. It might have to do with work exhausting me every day (plus the extra work day we get this weekend). I get up once in the middle of the night (always at the same time...230AM). No complaining here :) 

What I miss:

Nothing. I love knowing that there is a baby growing and I couldn't be more excited.

Cravings/Aversions:

At this very moment, my hot husband is trekking through the rain storm to go get cinnamon rolls for breakfast. This baby already has him wrapped around their little adorable finger. I woke up at 7AM this morning and said "babe...baby wants cinnamon rolls." and he looked at me, laughed, and said "OK".

I've also had this weird addiction to cracker barrel extra sharp cheddar with wheat thins. Every.single.afternoon. I must have that.  

Other Symptoms:

Got my energy back this week. Nausea went bye bye. I'm feeling pretty dang good! 

Big moment(s) this week:

1) Feeling the "second trimester energy boost"...finally!

2) Hearing the baby's heartbeat at my appointment....157bpm :) 

3) Slowly, but surely, getting the office cleared out so we can start to populate that room with baby-ness.
4) Shopping at Pottery Barn Kids and finding our nursery theme (I'm not a fan of baby pink or baby blue so I want to keep it neutral...and let me just tell you... this kids nursery is going to be AWESOME!)

Enjoy your Saturday peeps! I have to work tomorrow (booo!) so here's to my one day weekend. Cheers!

-M

Blogtember: Life Lately

I'm really excited to be joining in on Blogtember and especially this post. I'm going to start with life currently then move on to life lately. 
Currently I am sitting on the chase with a sleeping dachshund next to me (awww!), my husband is sitting on the couch reading a pregnancy book (telling me that our baby is the size of an orange and trying to figure out why I have no belly if there's an orange in there! His direct quote "Babe..if I swallowed an orange, you could tell! So why can't I tell there's an orange size baby in your belly!" Well hun...I didn't swallow and orange so there! ha! 
Lately, life has been pretty dang awesome and full of surprises and convictions that I never thought I would have (in a good way). As I have mentioned here, we finally are telling people that we are expecting an amazing miracle and I couldn't be more excited. We appreciate everyones congratulations and continuing prayers--it's true that it takes a village to raise a child and that's already been evident in the past 14 weeks that I've been expecting. Surprises...well..my parents are moving to not only the same state that we live in but the same city! This is exciting for us, as we've been 2,000+ miles apart since 2010. It will be nice to spend holiday's together again and to see each other on a more routine basis. Convictions? Well...let me start this part out by showing a verse that stuck out to me this morning while doing my quiet time. 

I've been tossing around the idea of what I'm going to do with work in a year and a half and honestly, it's been stressing me out. It's as if every.single.move I make will either ruin my career or keep me the same (it almost feels as if no matter what..it's either two steps forward and once step back, or one step forward and two steps back). I was reading this today thinking--you know what? what does it matter if I think about this now and try to plan out this career/my next career? A lot can happen in a year and a half (shoot--the world could even be gone for all that we know! haha) and right now, at this moment, I am here. God wants me here. I am fortunate to be where God wants me to be. I am the most blessed person for being given the ability to fulfill His plan for me. Who am I to plan it all out? So, lately, I've been living moment by moment. Excited for the future. Blessed for the present and ready for whatever may come my way! 
Be encouraged! God has incredible plans for us, strong women of God who choose to serve and obey Him! All we can do is live in the moment and enjoy what He is doing for us right now! So, life lately...living in the moment and it's awesome! 
Over & out, -M

Saturday!

{{Spending my day with this guy!}}

I love this day. Sleeping in (until 7AM...but hey, that works for me!), Dunkin' donuts (and I even had a few sips of coffee...mmmm hmmm good!), and on our way to the dog park...and it's not even 9AM yet!

Today we're volunteering at a BACE event (Big Audacious Connection Event) at church, seeing some family, going to church service and ending our day by watching THE Longhorns game!

Can't wait to take photos at the dog park, at the church event and while we're watching the game. :)

Enjoy your day ladies and gents. It's a beautiful one outside!!!

PS. People have been asking me to post bump photos....and I'll tell ya....once I actually have a bump I will post some...but 14 weeks in and I can still button my pants..not sure if I like that or not ;) haha

Smile,
-M

Friends

They are doing a series at church called "Friending" (check it out at lifechurch.tv!) and it's helped shed light on a LOT of things that I have been thinking about lately.
It's funny because we grow up feeling like we just HAVE To be friends with EVERYONE and if you're not friends with EVERYONE then you're lame. Welcome to where I grew up---now you know why I moved 2,000+ miles away? haha JUST KIDDING...sorda...

Anyways....I used to try to stay in touch with so many people. I would constantly be calling/texting/messaging/etc. and our conversations would go pretty much like this "hey, how are you" "good, you?" "awesome. thanks. what's new?" "nothing much, you?" "same. just livin the dream". and the awkward silence and conversation is over.

So, once I got in grad school I learned that some people are meant for certain seasons in life and God actually places them in your life at that exact time because you each have something that can help the other one out--how crazy is that?. Fortunatly, most of my strong friendships have become stronger through various seasons in our lives but there are also those friendships that were great and perfect for the time being that now are not as strong as they used to be. It used to be hard for me to accept that--I would almost force the friendship only to re-discover that God's purpose for that friendship was already fulfilled and it was time to accept that.

I love the friendships that have grown stronger since moving and I am greatful for the friendships that helped me get to where I am today. I can only hope and pray that my friendship with those people that positively influenced me reflected positivity in their growth through life.

What Craig Groeschel says is so true "Show me your friends and I'll show you your future."

We get so used to finding friends that make us comfortable--that agree with everything we do, that never have a negative opinion towards us and that are as similar to us as we can find.

I'm encouraged to find some friends that challenge me--that allow me to grow more and that help keep the drive and determination towards realizing huge, crazy plans there.


Well...there is my rambling for the day. That's what a blog is for...right?!

-M

A morning I will never forget...

Here's a post that I originally wrote on July 29, 2012. 

Well...it's been 18 days since we found out the best news EVER!!! Let's rewind to 19 days ago....my husband had 3 or 4 job interviews and was stressed. He couldn't understand how he worked so hard and just couldn't seem to get a snag at a "dream job". But i love how God works in crazy ways because GOD got him his DREAM JOB! An entire 7 weeks after interviewing with this company--they sent him an e-mail basically saying 'You're hired!' and we were so excited. And shocked...can't leave out the shock. I look back on it and am asking myself "why the heck were you shocked!?!?! you serve an AMAZING God. A God that wants good. A God that has the perfect plan. A God that KNOWS what He created you for!" We went to bed happy and excited and forever thankful that God showed travis his dream.

That next morning...around 5:45AM...I (half asleep) walked into the bathroom to try to wake up and decided to take a test and see what happens! I've taken a couple before and got the 'Not Pregnant' message so I did what I had to do and set it down and went on with my morning routine....right as I was about to walk out of the bathroom I decided to check the test (pretty much expecting to pick it up and throw it away after seeing the dreaded Not word) and picked it up and saw an empty space where it usually says 'Not'. My mouth dropped! I was thinking "OH MY GOSH!!!!" but all I could do was open the bathroom door and yell to my husband (still sleeping) "BABE COME HERE RIGHT NOW!" He immediately jumped out of bed and goes 'where is the spider?!?!' (Guess I tend to have him crush spiders in the wee hours of the morning.....) I showed him the amazing 'Pregnant' word and he just looked at me and walked right back to bed. Geeze...thanks T!

I walked over to the bed and saw him tearing up and we gave eachother a huge hug and then I started getting ready for work. Still amazed & in shock! haha

Travis kept running upstairs as I was getting ready to read if it still said 'Pregnant' on the test...sure enough it did! HAHA...silly guy. ;)

{{This picture was taken around 6AM the morning we found out. 

We sent it to our parents that night.}}

And then....20 minutes later we headed off to work. EXCITED & BLESSED & nervous....

God works in crazy ways. He knew He was going to show Travis his dream job and then 12 hours later show us that a baby is on the way. God always has the perfect plan and I couldn't imagine life any other way. God's way is the only way I want to live it and I am continually thankful for His miracles and grace--because we all know I don't deserve any of this amazing life I have but because of His grace I am saved! :)

...and here I am at 6 weeks pregnant and 2 days away from my first appointment and I can't stop thinking about this little life we're growing. I am so excited and GOD IS SO GOOD!

Smiling and so anxious to post this in my second trimester!
-M

WATCH OUT WORLD.....

We are so blessed to announce that our (first) WORLD CHANGER will be born in March 2014!  

 {{Photo credit to Jessica Nadine photography. Check her out. She is AMAZING!)

It feels so good to be telling people now! I just started my second trimester so we have known for a little while and after our trip back to Washington and California we told our family that we saw and now we're starting to tell our family and friends. :)

It's amazing how Gods timing is ALWAYS perfect. We couldn't be more happy. We are learning all about baby "stuff" and it's been a lot of fun. Telling our parents was such a great feeling. I love the support our family gives us--we are who we are today because of them and we can't wait to share our lives with our new little man/little lady. God placed us in an awesome Life Group here and we couldn't be more blessed to have them in our life--can't wait to be sharing the experiences of raising our children together. Can't wait to take our kiddo(s) to Sunday school, the park, the lake, everywhere!

God lined up His perfect plan for us and it's more than we could ever ask, think or imagine! True testimony of Ephesians 3:20. Stay faithful. Stay in prayer. Watch Him work miracles. Seriously, He is INCREDIBLE.

I was writing posts during the start of this adventure that I will be posting this week :)

So, yes. This is the post that I've been waiting my entire life to write. I still need to remind myself that this is actually happening and that I am not dreaming!

Smiling like crazy and over the moon excited,
-Meg & Trav

Currently, I am......

1) Sitting in my hotel room back home in OC, California.

2) Exhausted (in a good way) from a day at the Carlsbad outlets with my godmother and mom.

3) Watching Americas Got Talent

4) Reflecting on the amazing conversation we had with our grandparents in Vancouver, WA this past weekend. It's so amazing to hear testimonies of grandparents and to see their excitement when they talk about the Lord. I love them so much and I love that they love Jesus so much!

5) Happy that I was able to spend a day with a friend I've had since we were 10ish years old. It's amazing how fast time flies--we went from hanging out before/during/after soccer/little league games talking about boys and silly things to spending time walking around Fashion Island, staying at our nice hotel and talking about babies and diapers and husbands.  God you are so good :)

6) Ready for tomorrow! Adventures with my daddy and visiting my aunt and uncle in Malibu.

7) Super excited for this rental SUV I got. It's a fully loaded 2013 Ford Explorer and is LEGIT. I never thought I liked Explorers before...but i'm in love with this one haha


Happy to be seeing family. Blessed to have these loved ones here. Can't wait to continue my vacation tomorrow.

So blessed and thankful. Ephesians 3:20.

-M