Thrilled is an understatement.

 SURPRISE! 

 I'm preggo :)

Yep, we're having a baby.

Baby E is due September 10, 2012!! 

Here's a quick recap :) On Wednesday, January 11th, I took 2 (and a third the morning of the 12th...and a fourth on the 14th JUST to be sure!) pregnancy tests...positive, positive, positive (and yes, still positive on the 14th :).  I don't know if I have ever felt so many emotions all at one time! I always imagined I'd tell J in a fun and creative way. Yeah well, I didn't know how I would feel when I saw that second line pop up either! When J got home from work, I asked him to come look at something and showed him the test. I asked "do you see a second line? Are my eyes playing tricks on me? Do you see TWO lines?!". He sure did! (it was faint- now we know I was only 5 weeks at that point which is fairly early to show on an at home test, I think). Somehow I managed to sleep that night, but woke up bright and early full of excitement the next day (when I took test #3). I got to work early due to my ecstatic enthusiasm and counted down the minutes until my doctor's office opened. Loooong story short (I'll get more into the details another time), I got an appointment scheduled for today (1/18) and it has been a week full of nerves (is this really happening?! Is everything ok??), excitement (we are having a BABY!), anxiety (I can't tell ANYONE! AH!), and joy (we are SO blessed!!). I feel sooo much better after seeing our sweet baby today and hearing its precious heartbeat. I am hoping to do a good job of keeping up with weekly posts- I want to remember as much as I can about this experience.

...for this child, I have prayed... 

Showering Finley

I really enjoy throwing showers for my friends. This past weekend a few of us threw a shower for Emily and Finley. Our "theme" was winter wonderland and our colors were light blue, white, and gray/silver. Perfect for a baby boy shower in January :) Mr. Finley received lots of great gifts. Can't wait to meet him next month!!

(a few pictures of the decor from my phone)

"Wishes" all the guests filled out for Finley

Finley Hutton Day's monogram :)

Nursery Rhyme guest book

12 Things

I just ran across an article titled "12 Things Happy People Do Differently". After reading through them, I think they would be great "resolutions" for any and everyone. Twelve things that are certainly important to remember and strive for everyday. 

Plus, there's 12 of them...and it's 2012...how appropriate :)

1. Express gratitude. – When you appreciate what you have, what you have appreciates in value.  Kinda cool right?  So basically, being grateful for the goodness that is already evident in your life will bring you a deeper sense of happiness.  And that’s without having to go out and buy anything.  It makes sense.  We’re gonna have a hard time ever being happy if we aren’t thankful for what we already have.
2. Cultivate optimism. – Winners have the ability to manufacture their own optimism.  No matter what the situation, the successful diva is the chick who will always find a way to put an optimistic spin on it.  She knows failure only as an opportunity to grow and learn a new lesson from life.  People who think optimistically see the world as a place packed with endless opportunities, especially in trying times.
3. Avoid over-thinking and social comparison. – Comparing yourself to someone else can be poisonous.  If we’re somehow ‘better’ than the person that we’re comparing ourselves to, it gives us an unhealthy sense of superiority.  Our ego inflates – KABOOM – our inner Kanye West comes out!  If we’re ‘worse’ than the person that we’re comparing ourselves to, we usually discredit the hard work that we’ve done and dismiss all the progress that we’ve made.  What I’ve found is that the majority of the time this type of social comparison doesn’t stem from a healthy place.  If you feel called to compare yourself to something, compare yourself to an earlier version of yourself.
4. Practice acts of kindness. – Performing an act of kindness releases serotonin in your brain.  (Serotonin is a substance that has TREMENDOUS health benefits, including making us feel more blissful.)  Selflessly helping someone is a super powerful way to feel good inside.  What’s even cooler about this kindness kick is that not only will you feel better, but so will people watching the act of kindness.  How extraordinary is that?  Bystanders will be blessed with a release of serotonin just by watching what’s going on.  A side note is that the job of most anti-depressants is to release more serotonin.  Move over Pfizer, kindness is kicking ass and taking names.
5. Nurture social relationships. – The happiest people on the planet are the ones who have deep, meaningful relationships.  Did you know studies show that people’s mortality rates are DOUBLED when they’re lonely?  WHOA!  There’s a warm fuzzy feeling that comes from having an active circle of good friends who you can share your experiences with.  We feel connected and a part of something more meaningful than our lonesome existence.
6. Develop strategies for coping. – How you respond to the ‘craptastic’ moments is what shapes your character.  Sometimes crap happens – it’s inevitable.  Forrest Gump knows the deal.  It can be hard to come up with creative solutions in the moment when manure is making its way up toward the fan.  It helps to have healthy strategies for coping pre-rehearsed, on-call, and in your arsenal at your disposal.
7. Learn to forgive. – Harboring feelings of hatred is horrible for your well-being.  You see, your mind doesn’t know the difference between past and present emotion.  When you ‘hate’ someone, and you’re continuously thinking about it, those negative emotions are eating away at your immune system.  You put yourself in a state of suckerism (technical term) and it stays with you throughout your day.
8. Increase flow experiences. – Flow is a state in which it feels like time stands still.  It’s when you’re so focused on what you’re doing that you become one with the task.  Action and awareness are merged.  You’re not hungry, sleepy, or emotional.  You’re just completely engaged in the activity that you’re doing.  Nothing is distracting you or competing for your focus.
9. Savor life’s joys. – Deep happiness cannot exist without slowing down to enjoy the joy.  It’s easy in a world of wild stimuli and omnipresent movement to forget to embrace life’s enjoyable experiences.  When we neglect to appreciate, we rob the moment of its magic.  It’s the simple things in life that can be the most rewarding if we remember to fully experience them.
10. Commit to your goals. – Being wholeheartedly dedicated to doing something comes fully-equipped with an ineffable force.  Magical things start happening when we commit ourselves to doing whatever it takes to get somewhere.  When you’re fully committed to doing something, you have no choice but to do that thing.  Counter-intuitively, having no option – where you can’t change your mind – subconsciously makes humans happier because they know part of their purpose.
11. Practice spirituality. – When we practice spirituality or religion, we recognize that life is bigger than us.  We surrender the silly idea that we are the mightiest thing ever.  It enables us to connect to the source of all creation and embrace a connectedness with everything that exists.  Some of the most accomplished people I know feel that they’re here doing work they’re “called to do.”
12. Take care of your body. – Taking care of your body is crucial to being the happiest person you can be.  If you don’t have your physical energy in good shape, then your mental energy (your focus), your emotional energy (your feelings), and your spiritual energy (your purpose) will all be negatively affected.  Did you know that studies conducted on people who were clinically depressed showed that consistent exercise raises happiness levels just as much as Zoloft?  Not only that, but here’s the double whammy… Six months later, the people who participated in exercise were less likely to relapse because they had a higher sense of self-accomplishment and self-worth.

by Jacob Sokol. Found here:

http://www.marcandangel.com/2011/08/30/12-things-happy-people-do-differently/

Just in case you didn't notice, I have now blogged 2 days in a ROW. I know, bananas.

New Year

So, I was thinking...maybe one of my resolutions should be to do better about blogging. I have totally neglected this blog! And to think I had such high hopes and "SO" many things to blog about...oops... But it's a new year, so why not a new start for the blog? :) I wanted to share my resolutions for this year, in hopes that writing them down will help me stick to them!
*Create a budget and stick to it!
*Try to be more of a morning person (and get to work by 8!)
*Blog more (maybe I'll start with once a week...)
*Eat more fruits and veggies!

Then there are some goals/things I'd like to see happen this year, but aren't totally in my control/possible all in one year :)
*Complete our to-do list for the house (painting, painting, PAINTING)
*Sell our house and move into a new one (new one preferably in Murfreesboro)
*See a light rail/train system in Middle TN (might be waiting several years for this one, but I would still LIKE to see it happen this year :)
*Europe or Hawaii: travel to one of these in 2012! Need to decide where....

2011 was a great year, but I am definitely looking forward to 2012. Every year has it's hard times and we did have our share. But this year was full of happy, joyful times, and the good definitely outweighs the bad. We celebrated a dear friend's wedding, shared in the joy and anticipation of our friends Chris and Emily's baby, Finley, coming this year (!), welcomed our friends Kelly and Josh's new baby boy Sawyer, celebrated our 2nd anniversary in Europe with an amazing trip to London, Paris, and a good chunk of Italy- just to mention a few. 2011 was another year of health, love, and happiness! So much to be grateful for! We are definitely blessed, and can't wait to see what 2012 brings us and where the year will take us. So 2012, bring it :)

Oh Man-hattan.

So the Mr. and I went on our long weekend trip to New York City a couple weeks ago. We had a blast! We made full use of our days there, getting up with the sun and staying out way too late (which equals little sleep and lots of exhaustion!), but we got to see and do a lot which is typically how we roll on our "vacations". We were able to check nearly everything off our to-do list...and it was a long list. Let.me.tell.ya.
Here are a few cell phone pictures...eventually I will get the good ones up! :) 
(does that first building below look familiar, 'friends'?? ;)

Yum.

 

Double yum

Cafeteria. Yum.

Grilled Cheese and Tomato soup for breakfast at Cafeteria...why not?

Jimmy!

Didn't see any filming, but saw the tshirt!

i <3 candy.

And last, not only getting to go to a taping of Jimmy Fallon, but J got selected to be ON the show! It was awesome. Check it out:

 

Addicted, Obsessed

Where have I been? Oh, just over here, pinning away! Looove it!

In other news, lots of exciting things going on lately! I will have to get my act together (and pull myself from Pinterest) and do that soon :)

trippin'

Gosh. I am just not doing well with this blog thing! I feel like before I started the blog, I had ideas all the time about what I could write, and then once I started, my mind went blank. Or maybe I don’t have as much free time as I previously thought. Things have been busy between work, full weekends, and planning two trips! Oh, and sleeping : ) We are planning two trips this year. One to NYC in June and one to Europe (London, Paris, Italy) in the Fall. So very excited!! But so much work. NYC isn’t as difficult. Two helpful things- #1, I have been there four times in the past, and #2, they speak English. Europe is another story. Neither one of us has been that far out of the country (just Canada and the Caribbean) and neither of us know how to speak French or Italian! London is the only country I’m feeling semi-ok about. But at the same time, I could not be more excited about these amazing trips coming up! There are so many things to see and do. Since we have both been to New York, we aren’t doing as many of the big touristy things (Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, etc), but it’s hard to go to New York and not do touristy things! I’ve been making lots of random notes about where to go, what to see, places to eat…so far the list includes:

-See Mary Poppins on Broadway

-Overload on cupcakes at Sprinkles, Magnolia Bakery, and Sweet Revenge

-Dylan’s Candy Bar (Lent will be over, and I will attack)

-Eat at tons of places. Tons!

-Go to the Top of the Rock, Rockefeller Center

-Stop at some Sex and the City spots- Carrie’s stoop, NY Public Library, maybe a few restaurants or bars

-Hope, hope, hope to go to a taping of Jimmy Fallon (fingers, and toes, crossed!). We heart Jimmy.

-World Trade Center site (go every time. It’s always amazing to see how much it changes each trip, the first one was in 2003, and the last was 2005)

-Central Park

-Going to venture into Brooklyn for the first time, then walk back to Manhattan over the Bridge

-Oh, and shop, of courseJ

-I would also love to run into Mariska Hargitay and Chris Meloni filming Law and Order SVU, but you know, hard to plan a run in like that :)

Still not sure where we are staying, although I would LOVE to stay in the West Village. It’s always been one of my favorite areas, but never stayed there. The good thing about NYC is that it is so small, so no matter where you stay, you aren’t very far from anything and can get almost anywhere pretty quickly. It’s been over 5 years since I’ve been there, and I can’t wait to go back!

Next, hopefully, I will have a plan for Europe :)