The Spruce Solution

I found a way to celebrate my missing Hansel and Gretel tree from the new homestead. I purchased a plain wreath from Menard's (where you can save big money) and attached our former trees' pine cones for us to enjoy for years to come. The clusters of smaller cones are from the Hansel and Gretel tree and the larger ones are from another tree we had out front. I wasn't sad to see that one come down because it was partly dead and the neighbors said it got struck by lightening every year resulting in large branches falling on our property, their property, in the street, etc. The Spruce lives on!

Tears of... Hormones!

Here are a couple pregnant moments for your entertainment:

As you know, Jonathan and I are in the midst of a big house reno and in the way of our laundry/mud room addition there happened to be the most beautiful Spruce tree. At about 50 feet tall with the most perfect pine branches gently cascading down, this tree reminded me of a fairytale...like I was in the middle of Hansel and Gretel or something. Nevertheless, it had to come down. Jonathan went ahead and scheduled its removal while I steered clear of the details. I had actually totally forgotten about it when on a Friday we were out running errands and Jonathan said, "Oh, I want to show you something at the house." He drove me by the place and said, "Look at the tree!" I looked over to see my fairytale tree completely stripped of its lovely branches except for a little poof of pine at the very top. It was like a gigantic one-ended Q-tip. I said, "Oh my gosh, I'm so sad! Why did you show me this?" The next thing I knew I was literally BAWLING! I grabbed a napkin out of the glove box to wipe my face while Jonathan felt like crap (amidst his chuckling). I was crying so hard...but with occasional spurts of laughter at myself for crying so much over the tree. I would cry then laugh uncontrollably then go back to crying. It was the weirdest feeling. And it took me a good hour to get over it!

On another occasion, we were watching a Cardinals game during the regular season and it was a very close scoring game against the Nationals. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Albert Pujols stepped up to the plate and hit one out of the park to win the game. The whole team left the dugout and ran out onto the field to congratulate him at home plate while the entire stadium cheered. I found myself reaching to wipe tears away, stammering, "He's so talented" amidst sniffs of snot.

Oy, the hormones!

NEPHEW!

We travelled to St. Louis for Thanksgiving and were able to meet Nathanael and Brodie's firstborn: Malachi Ross Whitley! He is a very active little guy and was lots of fun to be with. He held his own with his two female cousins, threatening to crawl before them! It was great to be with our nieces and nephew and to watch them interact. We're so glad our little one will have cousins close in age and we're excited to meet Idolie's little brother or sister come June!

23 Weeks

I can't believe we're already at 23 weeks! Some people have asked me if I'm even wearing maternity clothes yet (uh, yep). In contrast, one lady told me I look like I'm having twins in this shirt....so I guess perception varies between people and clothing choices.

Just for kicks, here is my list of favorite pregnancy foods thus far:

1. Pink Lady Apples (1st trimester necessity)

2. Honey Nut Toasty O's

3. McDonald's Breakfast Burritos

4. Meat (beef) and Potatoes (It all started when Jonathan brought a double cheeseburger into our house for his lunch and I had to have a bite...or three! He graciously ran out and got one for me. Fortunately the double cheeseburger craving was short-lived).

5. Bread and butter pickles

6. Eggs

7. Cheese

8. Orange Juice

9. Veggies (second trimester)

10. Mac and Cheese

Here's my on and off again "yuck" list:

1. Desserts

2. Poultry

3. Fruity beverages like Naked Juice

4. Tomatoes and tomato sauce

5. Pizza

Baby Feet

At 20 weeks we had an ultrasound and got to see the baby moving around. The tech did a great job of not revealing the gender of the baby to us so we can be surprised. I love the shot of the little feet! The second photo is a profile view--you can see a knee coming up towards the head and a hand just above the nose. We enjoyed getting to see that what we've been feeling moving around is in fact a little person! But viewing the baby did make us anxious for the day when we can hold it in our arms.

The Half-Marathon Man

For the past 5 months, Jonathan has been training for the Kansas City Waddell & Reed Half-Marathon. We actually both began training and signed up for the race as a fun goal to accomplish together. When we found out I'm pregnant, Jonathan continued the training on his own.

We got downtown to the Hyatt around 6:15am where Jonathan took the opportunity to stretch before the start time of 7:00am. It was a cold, dark morning in KC but there was much excitement in the air.

There were 10,500 runners and a large amount of spectators. In fact, as much as we tried, we were unable to spot Jonathan at the start or middle of the race.

Fortunately, we squeezed into a spot toward the finish line and were able to cheer Jonathan on as he sprinted toward the end. He is the one pictured here in the white shirt and black running shorts.

There were so many people waiting at the finish line. As soon as we saw Jonathan coming, we ran back past the finish to try to meet him.

We finally met up after he walked through the food line to grab some oranges. What a relieved and accomplished expression!

Check out the frost on Jonathan's face and hair! He was cold and soaked in sweat by the time he finished.

Jonathan completed the half-marathon in 2 hours and 4 minutes which was one minute faster than he anticipated. Dad and I were so glad to be there to see him accomplish this feat and show our support for all his hard work and dedication to achieve his goal.

Meets and Bridges

My cousin, Andy, had a cross country meet in Terre Haute, IN. We were able to go see him run and meet up with the rest of his family there. The nearby Parke County was hosting its annual Covered Bridge Festival so we stopped by to enjoy some hot cider and kettle corn. It was the perfect autumn weekend and such a treat to cheer Andy on with the rest of the fam.

Saying Good-bye to "Tarai"

When Jonathan and I were married in 2001, his brother, Nathanael, gave me the nickname "Tarai." He said it was like Sarah in the bible who was barren and when God told her husband, Abraham, that she would have a son, He changed her name from Sarai to Sarah. So Nathanael decided to call me Tarai until Jonathan and I had children.


In 2006 we actually started trying to achieve this goal of parenthood, but after several months that turned into years, I began to realize I might have a bit in common with Sarai...I was experiencing barrenness. After doing lots of testing that resulted in the discovery that Jonathan and I are both perfectly healthy, we realized either it just wasn't God's timing for us to conceive or maybe we were being led to adopt.



Since we moved to Anna, IL we've been living in a tiny apartment that we knew wouldn't pass an adoption home inspection. So we decided to look for a house to buy and thought that if we weren't pregnant by the time we found a house, we would hit the adoption route full-swing.



God's timing is always perfect, no matter how much it may seem to differ from our own ideas. On the morning of July 28th, 2009 we went to the bank to close on a house. That afternoon we found out we were pregnant! Then it took us a couple weeks to realize it was real... and still some days I look at my stomach and say to Jonathan, "I can't believe there's a baby in there!"



We are praising God for the miracle of this new life and grateful for Him bringing us through what was possibly our greatest trial thus far. It was a hard road and it is tough to describe the pain that accompanies this journey. We watched so many friends and family members conceive and wondered when our turn would come. Some of them even met, dated, got married, and had babies in the time we were trying. The main tool that helped me get over the sadness was a book given to me by my friend, Beth, Rain on Me by Holley Gerth. This 40-day devotional brought me from feeling abandoned by God to feeling enveloped in His love...and it made me realize I was letting the devil scheme in my life and bring me down when I have so much for which to be thankful.



To anyone dealing with a trial that at times seems unbearable, I recommend Holley's book and encourage you that "God is faithful, he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear." 1 Corinthians 10:13



And to anyone who may be a family member, friend, or acquaintance of a young married woman and feels compelled to question or pressure her regarding her timeline for children, I implore you to hold your tongue. You never know what that woman is dealing with and the respectful, courteous thing to do is to let her bring the topic up if she so chooses. Just as it is inappropriate to imply a young, single gal should be considering marriage, it is equally inappropriate to suggest when a married woman should have children. Having been through this trial myself, I have been given a whole new outlook on what it means to have sensitivity and compassion on others. It is much more beneficial to be an encourager than a meddler. My mom and two of my aunts each at one point told me that they believed we would conceive our own children. They couldn't explain it; it was just something they knew. The faith of these women is at times what carried my hope.

Although I adore nicknames and felt it endearing of my brother-in-law to call me "Tarai", I am happy to hang up my "Tarai hat" and be called "Tara" from here on out as I am WITH CHILD! :) We appreciate any prayers for the health of the baby and for a quick, natural delivery. We anticipate the arrival of our little one around St. Patty's Day, March 17th. We have decided to be surprised regarding the baby being a boy or girl and plan to surprise everyone with the name when he or she is born. Be sure to check back on our blog for more updates and thank you for rejoicing with us!

Small Town Rumors

So some folks in town told us that sometimes rumors get started about people out of nowhere. Today, we were the recipients of two of them.

Jonathan was talking with a guy from our church and the guy said, "So I hear you're going on study leave soon." Jonathan responded, "What?"
Guy: "Aren't you going on study leave next week?"
Jonathan: "No, I have no idea what you're talking about."
Guy: "But you're not going to be here for the high school football game Friday."
Jonathan: "Right, because we're going to Terre Haute for a couple days to see Tara's cousin run in a cross country meet."

Rumor number two went like this:

Lady from church: "It's too bad you guys are leaving us, we really enjoy having you at the church."
Jonathan: "What are you talking about?"
Lady: "Well aren't you moving to Mexico?"
Jonathan: (laughing) "Um, no. We love being at the church. We bought a house here."

You're probably wondering how in the world these ideas get into peoples' heads then spread around town. SO ARE WE!!!

Carport Removal

We had a rotten carport attached to the house. Some guys from the church came over to help us tear it down.

They chained one of the posts to a bobcat after sawing the roof apart from the roof of the house.

In just one hour and forty-seven minutes the entire thing was removed and we had a completely cleaned off driveway. It was a HUGE accomplishment!

Philip Visits!

Philip came for a visit during his move to Chicago. He will be working there a couple weeks a month, so he got a studio apartment. Jonathan helped him move and it was quite an adventure!

The alley next to his building just barely fit the moving truck. The guys had to load up the service elevator, get in, then move everything to the other side while riding up to Philip's floor in order to be able to exit out the opposite door. Despite the close quarters, the guys decided it was the easiest move they've ever made. Philip had planned so well ahead that they were able to place the furniture precisely according to Philip's drawing of the space and finish in record time. We appreciated Philip coming to Anna early so we could spend some time with him and show him where we live...and get the Lincoln/Douglas photos, of course!

8th Anniversary!

We have celebrated anniversary number 8! We went to one of our favorite places: Carolina Beach. We stayed at The Front Street Inn in Wilmington which we had stayed at for our fourth anniversary as well. We got this photo out front to compare it to the one we took in the same spot 4 years ago. It's hard to believe we've been married this long--the time really flies by! Being back in the Carolinas was wonderful. We went through our former stomping grounds in Charlotte and were able to see some really great friends for what seemed like too short of a time. But we were so thankful for the opportunity and glad we made the trip.

The Ultimate Fixer-Upper

We bought a house. It needs a ton of work. We're hoping to get to move into it by Christmas.

We do really like the layout. It is one of the rare 3 bed/2 bath finds in town. We think it was built between 1936 and 1941, but who's to say because it was a foreclosure (as you may have guessed) that, I might add, included a drug bust. We sure know how to pick 'em!

Here are just a few of the things we're doing: replacing the plumbing, replacing the electrical, gutting both bathrooms and kitchen, ripping off the rotted carport and adding a garage, replacing all the windows... the list goes on.

We like the "English Cottage/Storybook " look of the house which was apparently popular in the US during this time period. There are hardwood floors, coved ceilings, and glass doorknobs. We think it will look nice a year from now. :)

We actually sought after this house if you can believe that. We were looking at a different one on the same street that we didn't really like but were possibly going to settle for. One day I was walking down that street and thought to myself, "now, why are we settling for something when there are cute little houses like this storybook one in town?" At the time, it was not on the market but a friend from church told us it was vacant due to foreclosure. So we waited... after several weeks it became available, we viewed it, beat out other offers for it, and now we're the not-so-proud owners! The answer to your next question is, "yes, I do believe we are out of our minds."

Andi and Bruceter!

On our way home we stopped in Indianapolis where Andra and I were born and partially grew up. We saw our former house and visited with good friend, Wes Alden, the neighbor across the street with the pool. His wife, Carolyn, taught us how to swim when we were just little girls. We also visited the church we used to go to before leaving Indy, then Andra and Bruce stayed with us a couple nights in Anna to see where we live. Of course, we had to take them to the Lincoln/Douglas debate site to snap some photos.

Crossing the Lake

Jonathan, Bruce, and Andy swam across the lake and back this year! Andra and I followed in the row boat to make sure the guys were noticed by any pontoons.

Jonathan and Andy came in together, swimming the first 1200 meters in 25 minutes and the last 1200 meters in 20 minutes. Sometimes they got a little off course so Andra and I tried to help direct them from the boat.

They were proud of their feat but happy to be back on shore! Good job, guys!!!

Independence Day

What a fantastic 4th of

July at the lake! It was

great to be back in Indiana

to spend the holiday with

family. The fireworks were

beautiful and the cool

weather was a nice change

from hot and humid Southern

Illinois! We watched the

fireworks going off all the

way around the lake, ate

s'mores, played ladder golf,

and even got in a round of

water volleyball.

birthday boy!

Jonathan is 30! I had every intention of throwing him a surprise party for this milestone when we lived in Charlotte, but being in a new town I had to come up with a different plan. I arranged for his 2 oldest friends to meet up with us and our siblings in Columbia, MO because it was a good middle ground. Since we had a bit of a drive from So. Ill. we needed to stay overnight. So several days before the outing, I began slowly packing some things and carefully placing the suitcase back in its storage position so as to not tip off Jonathan. Unfortunately, I underestimated my ultra observant husband who noticed the suitcase leaning slightly and the disappearance of his khaki shorts. Nevertheless, the birthday was a hit and he was glad to celebrate with good friends. *my apologies to Scott Kerens for not getting a picture before he needed to leave, my gratitude to Andra and Bruce for the superb table decorations, and my sincerest thanks to Jimmy for the pink birthday princess button for Jonathan's lapel. You are all wonderful!