Christmas Letter

Highlights of the past year:

· March: The basketball team I was the assistant coach of (Cornerstone University) made it to Nationals! We spent a week in Iowa, it was a great experience. (I have decided not to do it this year because of the time commitment and my new Real Estate Career)

· May: Jared and I took a trip with my sister to Denmark & Sweden, it was a great trip – a little too much city for me, but it was a great adventure!

· Summer: Our kickball team finished the whole season (both seasons Spring and Summer) undefeated! Keeping our place at the top!

· June: I started my career as a Real Estate Agent, and I am loving it! I had my first sale in July and am on track for having a great first year…at least that is what my broker says.

· Jared’s brother, Luke, got married in South Bend, we were happy to welcome another girl into the family!

· July: Jared competed in his first Triathlon and did amazing! Now he is stepping up his training and hoping to do a lot more next year, with a Ironman in 2013! He is training really hard and loving every minute of it.

· August: Our friend from Washington Adriane and her daughter Malibu came to visit! It was so great to see them. We went up north and visited Mackinaw Island and Sleeping Bear Dunes, then headed back to Hudsonville to hang out for a little while. It was so great to hang out with them and visit. I wish we could do it more often!

· September: My birthday which was amazing, Jared took me to the Notre Dame game which was fun even though we lost. Then On my birthday we took a pregnancy test (this was the day before we were headed to the fertility clinic to see what we could do) and it was POSITIVE! We were so excited and in disbelief for a while. It was probably the best birthday ever!

· Jared started being a Young Life leader this year, Young Life Club meets at our house every Monday night (it’s a high school Christian outreach group – I guess that’s the best way to describe it).

· October: We had our second annual Minute to Win It party, my dad made it to the finals but was defeated by my friend Linda Knapper. It was a great day! We were able to go to a couple MSU Football games this year so that of course was the best ever! Someday we will have season tickets!

· This fall/winter has just been super busy with work, projects around the house, and visiting people.

Duke is doing great as well, he really loves hanging out in the soon to be baby’s room so I’m not sure what that is about. He is loving this winter so far since it hasn’t been that cold and there is no snow…he is the only one in the family enjoying that I think. He continues to be as spoiled as ever, but he deserves it.

We are looking forward to January 11 when we get to learn who this little babe is, boy or girl. Other then that we are loving life! We feel so blessed to have wonderful friends, a great small group at church, good jobs, and of course our family!

Hope you all are having a blessed and happy holiday season!

Icebar in Stockholm

Stockholm

On the island of Hven - a little island between Sweden and Denmark

(my favorite place we went on our trip - we biked around it and played Football Golf! AMAZING!)

Everyone Can Use a Helping Hand...Pay it Forward

Amazing things have been happening over here. Our small group, who is a group of AMAZING FUN people, was looking for a family to adopt through an organization or something for this holiday season. At first we were a little disappointed because the program we were going to go through wasn't doing it anymore. Then one girl in our group discovered that another girl in her women's bible study and her hubby were not well off at all. They are very hard workers, but have just fallen on hard times. We decided that we would get them some gift cards and try to make their holidays a bit brighter. The girl is pregnant and also has a 13 year old son, so we decided to do what we could.

We all did that and brought our stuff to our small group Christmas party. We all started talking and we found out that the couple had nothing for their baby which is due in a couple months. For a few minutes we all just sat their thinking about how scary and aweful that would be. Then I said.... WAIT this is NOT a big problem and can be solved easily! Where do you go when you need to gather the power of the people...FACEBOOK. We posted on Facebook the situation and just asked if anyone had old baby stuff they didn't need anymore..within an hour we already had a carseat and stroller. Over the next couple days we gathered all sorts of things, carseat, stroller, highchair, pack N play, crib, mattress, swing, bouncy seat, clothes, monitor, humidifier, clothes, diapers, and much more. People were coming out of everywhere, people who didn't even know anyone in our small group donating money and supplies. It has been amazing to see God work through His people. This week we are gathering everything and delivering it anonymously...I can't wait. I wish there was someway to capture it on video!

I knew people would want to help. I believe people always want to help, but many times they just don't know what needs doing. Which goes back to my life theory of...when you need help...ASK. Also, my life theory of people are good.

This truly has been an amazing example of God working through His people and I am so happy to be apart of it!

Pregnancy Update

So I am 15 weeks right now, Saturday I will be 16. Officially out of the first trimester and into the second. Still waiting for all those pesky first trimester things to wear-off, however, I really never had it bad. The most annoying thing now is that I am starting to get hungry, but still not much sounds good to me to eat. I lost 5 lbs when I got pregnant and now I am back up 1 for a total of -4 lbs - the doctor said she is not concerned about this at all and it happens to a lot of people so that is good. Jared and I can tell that I am showing a little, more at night time. A couple other people have commented on it, but I wouldn't say that I am SHOWING yet I guess...but on the verge.

Jared and I have a project list of things we want to accomplish each month...we are already a little behind, but I am glad we are at least starting to do things now instead of waiting till spring. We have the crib built and the paint bought for the room. Our biggest stressor is the bedding, Jared and I do not like baby bedding! We have found a few that we like but then they are like $300! and we aren't about to spend that on bedding.

Overall I would say things are going great. Jared continues to be the best Hubby ever! The other day I had a temper tantrum about our cereal selection which ended up with me laying on the ground in the kitchen...Jared simply said "I'll go to the store, do you know what you want?" and left to get me some more cereals. He may have laughed at me to my face, but I couldn't blame him.

I also think that Duke is starting to sense that someone else is in my belly. He has always loved pregnant people. He loves to lay across my belly and snuggle...draping himself over me, it's kinda funny.

January 11 is our appointment to find out who is in there...our future son or daughter!

Winter - Holidays

Where is winter? I am having a hard time getting into the holiday spirit this year. There is no snow outside - and that really makes the holidays come alive for me. I have taken to making it seem like Christmas and trying to trick myself.

Here's what I do:

Once it is dark outside...

Turn on the fire, close the curtains then you can see neighbors Christmas lights faintly through the curtains, play christmas music while you sit in front of the fire - make hot chocolate if you want. Put on your PJ's and slippers, then put on a good christmas movie and snuggle on the couch with your hubby and dog (at least those are my snuggle buddies).

PERFECT! Then I believe it's the holidays!

In my head it looks like this outside:

Faith

I think faith is a weird thing. So illusive, it has so many meaning to people, but essentially means the same thing. Also, EVERYONE has faith, although some would never admit it, you have faith in SOMETHING.

Sometimes I feel like my faith is so engrained in my life I forget that it is what is driving me, helping me make decisions, the reason why I do things it has truly shaped me as a person. Without my faith I really don’t know what I would do, what would be the reason for things, and what would I think when I see snow or rain or sunsets, mountains, ice cream, or anything. Without even thinking about it throughout the day I talk to God in my head. Sometimes more serious conversations sometimes just AHHHH I got a great parking space “Thanks God!”.

I always feel like I am not a very “Christiany” person. You won’t find me out talking to everyone about God, unless someone asks me something. You won’t find me always doing devotions, reading the Bible, listening to Christian music, or “praying” in the traditional sense of the word. I would love to incorporate more of those things into my everyday life, but if I am honest those are not things that I would be known for. However, I think people all have their own walks with God and faith. I don’t think I am one of those people who checks the boxes like: did I pray today “CHECK”, did I do my daily devotions “CHECK”…Ok I’m good. I think I am more constantly living with God – why do I need a specific time to pray when I am talking to God throughout the day. I do agree, however, I need to spend more concentrated time with God – that’s something I am working on. To me though sometimes the people who check the boxes don’t appear to be living with God, it seems when they are not in a “check the box” moment everything they say they stand for goes out the window.

I guess I need to re-define my “Christiany” definition. I think faith and religion and especially relationships with God are awesome because everyone has their own. Just like marriages or friendships, I wouldn’t want some other people’s marriage, I don’t understand it, but it works for them and I am sure they wouldn’t want mine. And I always try to remember that just because I don’t understand it doesn’t mean it’s wrong. (one of my favorite quotes is “Not Wrong, Just Different”) I think that is awesome that God made us to have different relationships and that he can have an intimate one with all of us, in all our different types of relationships. No one else could ever do that. Amazing.

Just something I have been thinking about lately.

Registering...

When we registered for our wedding it was so fun! Picking out things we liked, colors we liked, styles we liked, and all that mattered was that we liked them. Not so for baby registry, we had to think about safety and practicality, and trying to figure out what you need when you have no idea what the baby will be like is a bit daunting.

Will the baby like sleeping flat or will they like to be surrounded by something - this matters for what pack N play you will get.

Will they like this swing, this bouncy thing, this excersaucer, or this play mat...I have no idea. I started picking things out based on looks alone, but then I didn't like the looks of anything and figured there must be a more responsible way to do this.

Jared was very good, he read the reviews, specs, and everything while carrying everything as I continually had hot flashes and he let me take a break "trying out" all the gliders for a while. The big stuff was one thing, but then we came to the wall of small things that you need...you know bottles, pacifiers, bowls, lotions, thermometers, all that stuff. I just started picking things I know my sister has or were specifically recommended to me by friends. Jared and I decided we missed 50% of the things that we will need ... but we figure we had a good start.

That was yesterday and today we built the crib so that was exciting. Now Jared and I feel like we are on baby overload, but decided better a couple days and then take a break then waiting till the end to do all this and being in baby overload all the time! Anyways, it has been a fun process so far.

We feel really blessed to be in our small group at church as 4 of the 5 couples are expecting next spring/summer! It's nice to have that support and people to talk about it with who are in the same boat. Also, they all already have kids so Jared and I have great resources to ask all of our questions. There were a few emergency calls from the aisles of Babies R Us yesterday to a couple of them - and they were very helpful!

Well I am off to try to do a little more organizing, we are so busy I am trying to take advantage of the weekends we don't have anything going!

Here is my favorite thing we registered for...I might steal it...Duke is already making plans as well!

Fears

I am coming to realize that I have a severe fear of traffic lights falling on me. When they are blowing in the wind...they look scary! They are Huge and heavy and flying all over the place attached only by some small little pole or something...why wouldn't they fall! I find myself starring at them before I go under and I envisioning them falling right on my car. It's not a fun picture. That would be an awful way to go, death by falling street light! UGH. I think this fear is getting more and more irrational, but I can't stop thinking about it when I am driving. I am also afraid of birds pooping on my head - this has happened to me twice before so not so irrational - now I run and dodge for cover when the squawking beasts fly over me.

My other severe fear, which is better now that I am not living in Seattle and driving on the 520 Bridge everyday, is a bridge collapsing and me being in my car going down in the water... I have asked Jared for one of those seat-belt cutting, window smashing things for like 3 years...again more relevant when I was in Seattle. I used to drive over the 520 Bridge with my hand on the window things so that as soon as I felt/saw the bridge breaking I could start rolling down the windows, before the power windows stopped working and I was screwed. I would always think how would I get out, how would I get Duke out, I would seriously get all hot and bothered thinking about it. Especially if I had Duke with me I would get super anxious sometime and minorly freak out. A lot of times with Duke I would roll down the windows, no matter what the weather just to make sure we could both get out. WHEW, I am having anxiety just thinking about this again!

See it happens!

Shout Out to My Hubby

I have to say that I have always liked to watch the man during events where the woman is the "main attraction". At weddings I like to watch the groom as the bride walks down the aisle - Everyone turns to look at the beautiful bride, but I keep my eyes on the groom - it's a, dare I say, even more beautiful sight to me. I have always liked to watch husbands as their wives are pregnant and talking about it to everyone, since everyone only asks the woman about it.

For some reason people think that it's all about the woman...while I am the one carrying the child, Jared is carrying our family. Just because his body isn't changing and growing a human, his world is changing too...a lot. And I would think the hardest part is that he can't relate to how I am feeling, or anything. To him I look the same...nothing REALLY is changing but I have become useless. I have spent a good part of the last 2 months laying on our couch. Often I ask Jared to get me some food, or a drink, or to move the laundry, and he happily does every time. Running to the store at a moments notice to get whatever I feel like eating. Making me yummy home cooked meals only to have me say "that looks/smells disgusting I can't eat that" to his efforts. I can't clean dishes because it makes me feel sick, I really have been useless. Jared has cleaned our house inside and out, done the grocery shopping, cooking (which i never did anyway), getting Duke his exercise, and just all the other little things. I really appreciate him and all the hubby's out there whose lives are changing, who are asked to suddenly do so much more and never complain. Add that on to working all day - while I am home sleeping - I would think he could get a little annoyed with me, but he doesn't. At least not to my face.

I am eternally grateful for Jared and how loving he is and how hard he works for our family. I am truly a lucky girl. I hope that people appreciate what he and all future dad's are going through and the things he is dealing with as well. It's not all about me, thank goodness. We are a team, and a pretty good one at that. Right now Jared is carrying our team! Hopefully I will be back in action soon and can help with some of the work he has taken upon himself.

Baby Update

Jared and I went in for another appointment this week to check up on our little addition. Everything is looking great, baby for sure has 2 arms, 2 legs, and at least one hand has 5 fingers so we're good! :0)

The babe did a lot of jumping around for us, and it looked like he/she had some pretty good dance moves so he/she is taking after us already. Also, there is a nice shot of the leg - looks like a soccer player to me :0)

Hearing other people talk about the first time they saw their baby on the screen or heard the heartbeat it seems that all the future mom's get emotional about it and things. This is how I know I am not like the majority cause honestly, it was just what I was planning on seeing and I spent a good portion of the time thinking about the great dance moves the babe was doing and how much I felt like it resembled a monkey...not usually the typical response I'm guessing, but hey oh well. I asked Jared if it bothered him that I wasn't all emotional about things, and of course he said no...what else was he gonna say. Oh well, that's just me I guess.

Enjoy the pics of the dancing monkey:

Something FUN!

So Jared and I did do something fun recently! It was totally Jared - he found the idea, he talked me into it, and he made it happen....and it was AWESOME!

Jared heard about this group Straight No Chaser coming to the Devos Hall - let me say that Jared and I would love to go to just about anything at Devos Hall, it's one of the things we really like to do. Straight No Chaser is an accapella (I don't know how to spell that and spell check keeps trying to change it to "spatula" so oh well) group and they are AMAZING. They are great singers, they are funny, and people from all age groups were there having a great time! We also got to sit in those seats along the side on the 2nd level, where you sit one person in front of the other. At first I didn't know if I would like it cause I wasn't sitting next to Jared, but they were great! There was TONS of leg room and you could still talk if you needed too, but most of the time we were so excited about the music I didn't want to talk. I just shot a HUGE smile back to Jared every once in a while.

Here is a little story about how they got started and the video that started it all. If they are coming to an area near you I HIGHLY recommend going to see them! Enjoy...

Basically the guys started the group at Indiana University in 1996 to "pick up girls" they had a great time but eventually all started to graduate and went on to get real jobs. In 2006 they were going to have a reunion so one of the guys posted some of their old videos on YouTube so they could laugh at each other and reminisce about the old days. Well one of their videos got over 7 million hits! They were quickly signed to a record label and have been doing this ever since! CRAZY!! Ok here is the video that got all the hits and started their career...

Oh here is their website too: http://www.sncmusic.com/

Un-Fun

So my biggest side-effect and most disturbing one of being pregnant is feeling EXTREMELY UN-FUN! Ugh, this is like a life disappointment. I have been exhausted and so every time I am not doing something I HAVE to do, I am on our couch relaxing or napping. I never see mu friends, I am not planning anything, I'm not finding any fun things to do around Grand Rapids. I feel my zest for life has left me, and my zest for sleeping is full throttle. Even when I talk to people I am totally un-enthused. I know I am talking pretty mono-tone, no expression, no hand motions (which I am known for) just boring talking...oh and I am not offering any extra information either. I was talking to one of my friends who is also preggo right now (after I had a dream that I was crying and telling her I was sorry I wasn't fun anymore and begging her to still be my friend...) anyways, she said that she isn't very fun right now either, but we are on the edge of turning the corner out of the first trimester and she assured me I will get my fun back! I am clinging to this like a squirrel to it's prize acorn!

I find this depicts my journey with fun all too well. At first I had a bunch, everything was great, then I lost it all, then I was just watching it all around me, unable to get it, then I got some back but whenever I would have fun it would knock me out totally leaving me laying on my back sleeping on the couch while all the fun drifted away...and here I am with no fun :(

This is Awesome

Next year we should do something like this! - this is one of those fun things I would do that other people wouldn't :)

Great Expectations

So Jared and I always get these ideas that are going to be such FUN DATES....then we go to do them and end up just feeling like "let's just quick do this and get home". I am not quite sure why we can't just enjoy things sometimes, but we can't. At least we are on the same page when it happens. Most recently we went to Robinette's & to Postma Farms to get Pumpkins.

Robinette's is this great apple orchard place that EVERYONE in Grand Rapids goes to when they are a kid. We thought it would be fun to go get cider and donuts and walk around the orchard. So we set out with this great idea of walking hand in hand sipping cider and munching on freshly made donuts, and of course my favorite thing to do there...watch the apples being squished and the cider being made. Great idea right?

In actuality we pull up to MASSES of people, kids running and screaming everywhere, parking all over the place, a line winding out of the building and through one of the parking lots to get cider & donuts. Side note - if you know me at all I am not a fan of crowds...they just make me uncomfortable (unless I am on a mission going somewhere, but just to stand around in... NO THANK YOU!) also you would know that I am not a big "kid" person, usually I find them loud and annoying and out of control, your kids are fine from a distance, I just don't want to be surrounded by them. So immediately I am NOT loving this. We actually thought about leaving right then and there, but Jared's drive for fresh donuts made him commit to "THE LINE" Duke and I stood there for a little while, but then we headed off to part of the orchard that I am 99% sure you are not supposed to go in - but since it was the only place without 1,000 people we went there anyway. Duke and I wandered the orchard while Jared battled the screaming kids, teens talking constantly on their phones, and parents trying to corral everyone, to get his donuts. About 20 minutes later he made it out alive with donuts and cider in tow. The donuts were great and after that we even managed to walk around in the orchard for a few minutes all together.

So this past weekend we ventured to Postma Farms (or Post Farms?) to get our pumpkins. We thought we were going to a U-pick pumpkin place....turns out it was like Robinette's on crack! Starting off with parking CHAOS and driving through huge mud puddles. We somehow ended up walking in the back way - which we didn't know at the time. We saw the field of pumpkins in the distance and started to walk towards it. Noticing that everyone else was getting hay rides out there we thought "bah we don't need a ride" until we got a little down the path and noticed a mud field that we would have to walk through to get there - we headed back to the line to get on the hay ride and noticed a sign that said "wristbands must be visible" well we had no idea what that meant so we kept walking, there was a practical carnival going on, with all the screaming kids and frantic parents all over again. We exited through the entrance where is said "MUST HAVE WRISTBAND BEYOND THIS POINT" - clearly their security was not on point. Finally making it to the "front" we noticed that there was a small area of pumpkins already picked that you could buy...needless to say we did that. You would have had to pay ME at that point to get on the hay ride with all of these crazy people, walk in mud up to my knees to find a pumpkin and then BACK on the hay ride...no thanks.

I also have been exhausted lately from being prego so Jared had to double time walk back to the car in the massive parking lot with tons of mud with his pumpkin as I slowly dragged behind barely able to lift mine. Being the good hubby that he is he came back and rescued me and took me home to nap :)

I know I will have to start doing these things in the future when we have kids, but I am taking time to enjoy NOT doing them right now. I enjoy doing many other fun things that other people don't - just chaos with lots of people aren't my thing.

Hippos!

Seriously Hippos are the coolest EVER! Cute Baby Hippos and underwater shots in here!

Not Surprised

I feel like I have been around so many preggo people in my life and that when people talk I actually listen that not much is going to come as a surprise to me. Sure I am 100% sure it will be cool, interesting, eye opening to experience things myself, but I am 99.9% sure that nothing anyone says to me will surprise me. - unless it was "you're having twins!" that would be a surprise!

So far being pregnant I have realized that everyone tries to tell you things that they think is a newsflash to you. I am not one of those people who needs to talk about it all the time...I will if people talk to me or ask me questions that great, I love questions, but I am not one to bring it up. I think it is weird that everyone is like "That's what you have to look forward to" when a baby is crying or something, or "now you will get to see what it's like." Yeah I am aware of that. I am aware that my kid will cry, drive me crazy, make me uncomfortable in public, cause me problems I have not thought of, be wonderful, be hilarious, and a number of other things. I expect to have moments where I have no idea what I am doing, where I just want to cry, where I want to kiss my kid so much, when I am just exhausted, where I am so happy to see the smallest new thing.

In life in general I am not surprised by much, things people tell me very rarely cause me to gasp or be surprised by much. Everyone has their own life and lots of different things happen in those lives.

I don't even know if this makes sense, but it was something I needed to vent about for a minute.

Oh also, since I have been pregnant I have been exhausted....typical, well I am not a good tired person, I am not talkative, I do what I need and then go to sleep when I can. This does not mean that I am mad or in a bad mood. Just cause someone doesn't talk doesn't mean they are in a bad mood. Everyone has been thinking I am in a bad mood...Just tired people. It's ok not to be super full of energy all the time.

Ok...whew... sorry about that rant, but I needed to get that out!

We have a Heart Beat

We went to the Dr. on Friday and got an ultrasound. The babe is 4mm big and had a heartbeat of 118bpm. It boggles my mind that that is inside of me and will transform into an actual person. It was Jared's first time at the "Girl Dr", he handled it well. Looking around like a child trying to figure out what everything was.

So here is our little guy/girl:

I have decided that I really don't like situations where I am "supposed to" feel some way or act someway. I felt this way when I was engaged too. When people find out I am pregnant I just say, "yeah thank you". I don't jump up and down, my face isn't beaming with joy, I kinda would rather just say Thanks, and then move on to something else. Everyone then says..."are you happy, are you excited?" in an awkward way.

Don't get me wrong Jared and I are very happy, but we just don't show it by jumping up and down or wanting to talk about it all the time. As we said before it is a part of our life, not our whole life. We have plenty of other things going, and I feel like, a bazillion other people are pregnant and have been pregnant before. I don't feel like it is anything NEW and I don't expect people to be blown away or so interested in me being pregnant.

Jared and I have our own private talks about it, but we honestly don't talk about it too much yet either. As Jared said the other day, "what are we supposed to do run home and get the room ready?" There is just so much time before things happen a long way to go. I am sure as it gets more "real" - my belly grows, something that resembles a human shows up on the ultrasound, etc things will be different, but for now we are just living our normal life - with some added bland food and a little less Pepsi. :)

Frozen!

I love this, I think I would be freaked out if I was NOT a frozen person!

My Birthday! - September 18th

Last weekend was my birthday weekend. For those of you that don't know, I am still like a small child on my birthday - I truly believe the day should be all about me, i love my birthday, I want everyone to know it's my birthday and I just want to have fun. Jared had no idea what he was in for as far as the responsibility he holds in making my birthday successful when we got married. I am happy to say though he has picked it up WONDERFULLY and continues to make my birthday MAGNIFICENT every year!

Friday night when Jared got home from work he presented me with a brochure for MICHELLE'S BIRTHDAY EXTRAVAGANZA!!!! - With my birthday activites in it. That night we went over to my mom's house to hang out with my sister and our niece and nephew, we had a dance party and watched Thomas the Train - it was perfect!

Saturday was supposed to start with a trip to the art fair in Hudsonville, but we were lazy and laid in bed and played with Duke all morning so we skipped that.

Then we went to Biggby to get my Carmel Apple Cider drink that I LOVE = perfect, and then ... WE WERE OFF TO THE MSU v Notre Dame Game in South Bend! I LOVE football and Jared got me an MSU jersey to wear this year...YAY...so this was a great treat, at first I thought maybe Jared was giving himself a present, but as the day went on I realized he was right I LOVED every minute of it...besides the MSU playing like crap and getting killed part...that was a bit of a downer! Before the game we walked around campus and met up with our sister-in-law Colleen, who is attending grad school there, we saw a few other people we knew and ate some great tailgate food! Later we were walking through campus and came upon a One Man Band! He was awesome and such a cute man! He kept playing the Notre Dame fight song, but I put some money in his jar anyways and then he said "Well Alright, this one's for you"

and he played the MSU FIGHT SONG in the middle of Notre Dame's campus...LOVE I stood right in front of him cheering and doing the motions and some man with a HUGE camera - he looked official - was taking pictures...I'm pretty sure I am gonna be famous! - so that was fantastic.

After the game Jared and I were a little depressed, but we met up with Jared's brother Luke and Colleen again and had some great Chicago Style Deep Dish Pizza, AND since it was my birthday the waitresses all sang happy birthday to me and I got this AMAZING dessert that was BIG warm brownies with vanilla ice cream on top...to die for - and it was huge so we all ate it!

Sunday Jared and I slept in and played with Duke again, we went to the Hudsonville Nature Center where we love to walk and let Duke explore. Then back home for a nap and laziness. That night we went to my mom's house for a birthday dinner for me and my step-bro whose birthday is the 21st. then we came home and I took THE TEST, and you all know what happened from there!

An AMAZING birthday to say the least! Thanks to my AWESOME Hubby who put it all together for me! LOVE!

Update...

So today went a little differently than expected to say the least. As you all know today was the day for our appointment at The Fertility Center…but we ended up cancelling it and here is why…

WE ARE PREGNANT!

I know, we are in shock! Here’s the story…

So last night Jared said that I should really just take a pregnancy test just to make sure before we spend all

this money. So, I said “Yeah ok I think we have one at home, if we do I’ll take it”. So when we got home I headed upstairs and took the test and Jared was down stairs doing whatever… When I looked at the test…Yup…two lines. I re-read the packaging like 4 times and then told Jared I thought there was a line. He didn’t believe me and went to look for himself. Then he came out and said “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!”. We both looked at each other and decided it was a mistake so we just went to bed. Then this morning I found two different ones that had come with ovulation sticks we had bought earlier…and they both came back positive! I called The Fertility Center and cancelled our appointment, and called my regular Dr. to get some blood work done.

So Jared and I are in total disbelief we really don’t believe this is happening and are hesitant to truly believe it without more PROOF as Jared said. Haha.

About 1pm we went in to have the blood work done and they are supposed to call us back today – they want my HCG levels to be in the 2000’s then they want to do an ultrasound. So we will see where my levels are today and if they are high enough we will schedule that, if not then we will do the blood work again in a couple days and check the levels then.

So as of right now I guess I am pregnant? – WEIRD.

I guess the thought of us shelling out a bunch of money finally got our insides working…and if that’s what it takes I’m all for it haha.

We talked about what we wanted to do, since this is odd having EVERYONE know on the same day we found out, usually people wait a couple months, but we figured we were all in this together at this point. Besides as my friend Margo put it, the more people that know the more people can start praying for health. I am nervous about having a miscarriage just because if it takes you a long time to get pregnant you have a slightly higher risk, but whatever is going to happen will happen and I would rather have the support of everyone anyway. So here we go on this journey.

I said to Jared this morning…What are the odds of this happening the DAY before we go to a fertility clinic…and all he said was… “For us…this is pretty much in line with how our life goes.” And I just laughed, it’s true whatever plan we come up with or whatever we think we are doing – it’s always something different, but that is why I love our life so much, we never know what is going to happen. We are just gonna keep sitting back and enjoying the ride!

Weird things:

My mom told my step dad two days ago that she thought I was pregnant

My sister, Erin – a doctor, told me right when we let them know we were going to The Fertility Center that she knows a lot of people that make the appointment and then suddenly get pregnant…I was like “yeah OK”…but it’s TRUE!

I am not going to put anything on Facebook or anything like that yet – I will probably wait to do that until about the 3 month mark, but I guess it’s not a secret anymore.

P.S. The DR just called back and I need to go back in on Wednesday for blood work again, they hope to see my levels double in that time and then we can schedule the ultrasound – she said we are officially pregnant…now Jared is starting to be a believer…he has a huge smile J

Upcoming Fun!

October to me is usally just another month...I enjoy the fall, changing leaves, but this year it has LOADS of fun! Here is my fun schedule!

Oct 1: Improve thing that has to with ArtPrize...SO EXCITED

Oct 3: First Young Life meeting at our house (Jared and I are Young Life Leaders at Hudsonville High School now!)

Oct 8: Urban Adventure Race!!!! And possibly with Costumes! (pic is of us at the last Urban Adventure Race in July!)

Oct 9: Touring Art Prize

Oct 10: Kickball Championships!

Oct 15: MSU v UM game...I'll be there!

Oct 22: MSU v Wisconsin game...I won't be there, but I will watch it and it will be amazing! Possibly to to East Lansing to hang out before he game as it is Homecoming.

Mix in there some house showings and possible listings, maybe even a sale and you have yourself a GREAT MONTH!!! HOORAY I can't wait!

However, lets not get too carried away...This month we are still waiting for the BEST DAY OF THE YEAR...MY BIRTHDAY!!! Sunday is the big day! I LOVE my birthday!

Here we go!

So for those of you who don't know...which if you are reading this blog then you probably do Jared and I have been trying to get pregnant for a little over a year now... I am just going to post the email here that we sent out to family and friends:

Hello Friends –

Well we just wanted to give you a little life update from Hudsonville. Some of you know bits and pieces and some might not know anything, but as our good friends we thought it was time to bring everyone up to speed. Jared and I have been trying to get pregnant for over a year now. At first we didn’t tell people because we thought it would just be a fun surprise - while it would have been, it never happened. So now I just feel like I am keeping a secret and I don’t really keep secrets about myself – I feel like I am being dishonest – but I don’t want to just blurt it out in some random conversation either. So there ya go.

In the past few months I have been taking a medication called Clomid to help us with the process and still no luck, I also have gotten an HSG test where they check to make sure everything looks good and the tubes are open etc. That came back with positive results and everything looks like it’s supposed to. Jared was tested too and he is in great shape. Our doctor wants us to go see a fertility specialist to determine the next steps. So, September 19 we are heading to The Fertility Clinic to meet with the Dr. there and discuss where to go from here. Unfortunately our insurance doesn’t cover any of this, but we feel it’s worth it.

Jared and I are very positive about the situation, we aren’t devastated, it doesn’t bother us that other people are having kids, or talking about babies, we aren’t bitter at all like I hear of some couples getting – it is one part of our life, not our whole life – we have kept a light heart and joke about things often, I make a celebratory batch of cookie dough or have a nice drink to celebrate NOT being pregnant every month – enjoy things I couldn’t do if I were. We still believe that we will have kids, and the clinic we are going to is in the top 5% in the nation so that’s great! Our request is that you don’t feel bad for us or pity us. A lot of times when you tell people this you get that head tilt to the side and OH, I’m sure God has a Plan, or I’m sorry, or Something will work. We are aware of all of that and really don’t want it said to us in a “feeling bad for you” kinda way. We are loving our life right now, and while we would love a little addition it’s fine that that is not happening yet – we know that God does have a plan, and our life together so far has been one where He has clearly taught us that we are not in control and not to stress cause He has it figured out. (We tried the stress thing and it didn’t work out to well, so we have learned to just let go and enjoy life where we are!)

So anyways, if you have questions please fire away, I really don’t know anything else about what we will do until after we meet with Drs on the 19^th, we aren’t shy or anything about talking about it, I just wanted to email everyone first so we don’t have to have the same initial talk a bazillion times with everyone – even though I know this is UBERLY impersonal…sorry.

Like I said it is just a part of our life that we haven’t shared because we wanted it to be a surprise, but that kinda backfired so now it seems like a big deal, but it’s not to us and we have been going through these steps for months now.

I am sure this came out of left field for some of you, SORRY! But I feel much better now if that helps J

Have a great day!

Michelle & Jared

So there you have it. Just to clarify based on some responses from people, this is NOT a touchy subject to us so you can feel free to just blurt out "what is happening with the baby making" or "when is your appt?" or anything like that... it's fine. To me it seems the same as "how's work going? - not touchy at all....unless you just got fired and are about to move out onto the street...then maybe that would be a touchy question! haha.

I will be updating the blog with where we are and what happens because that is just easier then trying to remember to tell everyone or having the same convo with everyone I see. So check back here to keep up!

Have a great day!

Labor Day Weekend

My Friend from Washington and her daughter came to visit! It was so fun! We went up to my dad's condo by Nub's Nob with Duke and Jared. We went to Mackinac Island which is so fun! Part of me would love to live in a place like that...so simple I feel. I wouldn't want to hang out by the "downtown" area that much...WAY too many people, but I would love to just ride my horse or bike everywhere. Duke and I are pulling for a house on the island! We just wandered around eating ice cream and fudge = magnificent! That night we watched the first MSU football game...OH YEAH! I am sooo excited that Football Season is back!!!

The next day we left the condo and headed to Glen Arbor and Sleeping Bear Dunes, but not without stopping at a few roadside places so Adriane (my friend) could by a Petoskey stone IN Petoskey!

Poor planning on my part, I did NOT realize how far it was from the condo to Sleeping Bear and then Sleeping Bear to Hudsonville....we had a 21 month old with us and man was she a trooper! She did great! She had a lot of stories to tell us and we ended up singing a made up song called "Happy" for the last 30 minutes of the trip, in which you just sing the word "Happy" in a different voice over and over...I was pretty good at it if I say so myself - Malibu (Adriane's Daughter, and I made it up).

Anyways we climbed Sleeping Bear Dunes only to get to the top and have a huge cloud come over and cover everything...so much for seeing "America's Most Beautiful Place". Oh well, we were there.

Sunday was much more relaxed and consisted of a pancake breakfast at dad's, hanging out on the boat, lounging around the house, a great dinner, and FARKLE - the version that Jared and I made up that is SOOOO fun!

Monday we again did nothing really, and it was FABULOUS!

Tuesday morning Adriane missed her flight, I felt awful! It was quite the debacle, but she ended up getting home at a decent time.

I love seeing friends that you haven't seen in a while, especially when you hang out and you feel like you still see them everyday, like you just slip right back into the old routine - awesome. I still can't believe Adriane and I randomly got put as roommates on Semester At Sea, because of that we (Jared and I) ended up moving out to Seattle and Jared and Adriane worked together. We have such similar tastes in just about everything but food and exercise. We both had stuffed Hippos which we brought on Semester At Sea, and we love hippos, we LOVE dogs, it is not uncommon for us to show up wearing very similar outfits. It's just crazy! I am so thankful for her friendship and I hope we always remain friends and don't lose touch cause we live so far away now.

I love good friends!

Amazing!

The Mountain from TSO Photography on Vimeo.

This is amazing and just made me realize how AWESOME God is and how many beautiful things I see everyday but never really SEE. I just sat in silence as I watched this totally amazed!

Blessed

Sometimes I just have to stop and look at my life. Sometimes I am in disbelief of all the wonderful things that make up my life. Jared and I always go through phases (I just spelled that fazes and then realized that was WAY wrong...oops) where we feel like we don't have many friends and the old "no one ever calls us" sets in. I think everyone feels that way, which is why most of the time, I pride myself on being the one that calls people...I'm not always that great at it, but I have my moments. Jared and I love to have people over, have parties of different kinds, play cards, hang out, set up dates to the dog park...I just love being around people. When I start to think of it that way of "who can I call" instead of why isn't anyone calling us, I am overwhelmed at the possibilities! There are so many options...now granted I would call up someone I hadn't seen in 5+ years and just see if they would want to hang out...I figure I am fun, you are fun, let's get together...they may not return the feelings, but so far I have always gotten a pretty positive response!

We are so blessed with great friends! I just wanted to say THANKS FRIENDS - because you make my life better every day. Knowing that if I needed to talk, cry, laugh, eat cookie dough, or anything you are there for me. And you better believe I am there for you, I seriously would do anything for my friends. If someone called me in the middle of the day and just said, would you come sit on the couch with me and do nothing - I could really use that right now - I would be there in a heartbeat. Or if someone wanted to go skydiving...HINT HINT I would do that. I hope my friends know just how much I appreciate them and how much I would do for them! (I just need to be asked - reference earlier post about helping :) I am not a mid reader!)

Love you all! Feeling blessed today!

PS my life goal is to have a group of friends like FRIENDS, who know everything about each other, always there, and really go through life together....LOVE THAT show! I have been told I remind people of Pheobe???

*Check out the video links for some laughs.

Productivity!

Lately Jared and I have been being so productive! We sold our hot tub that we never use...those things are WAY more expensive to run then I ever would have thought! We finally sold some Ikea chairs that we had, which were never even taken out of the box, but since we lost the receipt they wouldn't take back...Come on Ikea - your boxes don't really look like anyone elses, pretty sure you knew they were your chairs at least give us store credit! RUDE. We are painting the basement to move our guest room down there, we re-did our deck with the help of my dad and now have a fire-pit (thanks Mom and Herm) and a table so we can actually enjoy our yard!

Jared and I have also been feeling like we need to get involved at church or in our community more, we have been looking at a few different options and we are happy to say that we just decided we are going to be Young Life leaders at Hudsonville High School! We are really excited about it and can't wait to get started!

This weekend we had a bunch of friends over Friday night to play volleyball, hang out, and enjoy our new deck with us. It was a lot of fun! Jared and I were talking about it and feel so blessed to have so many wonderful people in our lives, we have a great group of friends, wonderful families, and we are so happy to be married. It is refreshing to be around other people who love their spouses too. We had a family re-union this weekend with one side of Jared's family and I was sitting there talking with two of his cousins and we just talked about how awesome our hubby's are! It was great! A lot of times I think people try to win with "the best" story, like they always have to top you, and it is usually negative - whether you are talking about your spouse or anything, but we were all just talking about how wonderful they were and no one was trying to up one another, we all just felt truly happy and blessed.

Well, I am hoping our productivity continues! Our good friend from Washington is coming to visit this week with her daughter - we are so excited!

I just love flash mobs so here is one of my favorites!

Camping/Triathlon

So Jared and I are NOT good campers and here is why:

The first time we went we totally didn't think about it and ended up sleeping right on the ground on some very lumpy tree roots - so now we have an air mattress - This would be ok except that Jared is a FLOPPER! He doesn't just role over, he flopps with all his might - which leads Duke and I to go flying like we were on the end of a BLOB all night! Duke - we bought him his own little sleeping bag hoping that he would just use that - he caught on pretty quickly that he was NOT on the air mattress and NOT under the same covers as us so he abandoned his little bag and now stands directly over my face staring at me until I let him in my sleeping bag. This leads me to tell you that Jared and I have mummy sleeping bags = NOT much room for Duke to sleep between my legs. After much resistance I have finally learned that when we go camping I bring a towel for me to lay on and just put my sleeping bag over me so that Duke can sleep there to....cause let's face it if Duke isn't sleeping well he is going to be standing over my face letting out pathetic whimpers every so often until he is under my covers. So in summary you have Jared in his sleeping bag by himself, sleeping soundly, then you have me with Duke over my face whimpering until he is BLOBbed on top of me and I let him under my sleeping bag as I am laying on a towel just waiting for Jared to FLOP again and send us flying. Add to this that I do NOT function properly and am NOT a nice person to be around when I do not have the sleep I need and it's a recipe for disaster.

This weekend we had to camp in Ludington Saturday night because Jared did a triathlon on Sunday. We had been at my sister's house in Traverse City all day playing with family and out on the water and got a late start to the campground. We got there as it was getting dark - 1st mistake. We quickly got the tent out and of course I put together the "frame" thing and filed it through the tent and OH it wasn't the right part of the frame - so back out it came. Finally it's up we are ready to stake it in... no stakes. So we threw bags in a couple corners and said good enough. We had no food, no water, no anything. Jared set up the infamous mattress and we both just crawled in and went to bed. There were a few BLOBbings during the night and a few whimpers from Duke after he would crawl out of the covers and then decide in fact he was happier under the covers, but overall I have to say it was a good night of sleep considering the conditions. I think me talking all day to Jared about how I was dreading it and how much he flopped helped - I think he tried to be a little more conscience of his movements...Thanks HUBBY!

The next morning at like 5:30 Jared was up and out and getting his stuff ready to go when there was a HUGE fart rippling through the campground! Jared whispers in the tent "WAS THAT A FART?" I said "It was but NOT by me!" Which was just hilarious!

Jared's Biggest Fan!

Jared is the one diving in the left 1/3 of the picture.

6th out of the water! GOOD WORK HUBBY!

At 7:21 Duke and I finally got up and packed up the tent in a hurry...only to discover that we did infact have the stakes...Jared had just rolled the tent out over top of them so we had slept on them all night. It's ok I didn't really mind the tent collapsing over me the entire night while Jared slept perfect in the center of the high pitch part of the tent in his sleeping bag without Duke. :0)

We made it into town and found Jared and then watched the Triathlon! Jared did GREAT dispite stepping on a big pointy rock on his first step into the water. (he was limping furociously after the triathalon from it and it turned into a HUGE bruise right where the arch is on your foot...OW!) Jared was the 6th person out of the water in his group which was AMAZING! He finished right in the middle of the pack of all racers and right on his goal time of 1:21. Duke and I were very proud of him!

Family Pictures!

here are our family pictures taken by my friend Anne Jansen! You can check her out on Facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Anne-Jansen-Photography/148560235156195

I LOVE this show!

I love Modern Family!

Pictures

Tonight Jared, Duke, and I got some pictures taken by a friend and GREAT photographer Anne Jansen. I will post them when they are ready! I learned a few things while we were taking pictures... 1. Jared suddenly gets so sensitive to light he cannot open his eyes when people are trying to take his picture. 2. Duke loves getting his picture taken, and likes to show off 3. Jared and I are COMPLETELY awkward when we get our pictures taken. We stood there like deer in the headlights awkwardly looking at eachother and not knowing where to put hands, rest heads, or how to stand...seemingly pretty easy things that we do everyday...not so when a camera is on you. I decided I could never make it as an actress - when people tell me to do something I freeze (like at weddings if someone tries to make me dance...it's not gonna happen, but if I am just feelin it....WATCH OUT) and Jared DEFINITELY not at a model with his eye problem as soon as a camera arises. If we get one good picture it will be amazing. Oh and cause Jared couldn't open his eyes, I was laughing so my smile I am sure is awkward and just weird cause I am laughing.

We decided to get some nice pictures of us because without the pictures that my cousin took as an attender to our wedding, we really wouldn't have any pictures we like of us - hated our wedding pics. What part of "we want mostly candids not formal pictures" is hard to understand...cause we got 90% formals. Good thing we had disposables and family who knew what they were doing!

In other news this was a particularly great week for the Vermeulen Household! We built a little extention on our deck (and by we I mean mostly my dad, with the help of a few others of us), we sold our hot tub, paid off our lawn mower, I sold a house, and Jared was all ready to do his mini triathalon - but then it got rained out. However, the silver lining is that he found another one this weekend to do in Ludington so we will be going there to do that Sunday morning.

Side note - I have an addiction and it is CARDS! Right now I am particularly obsessed with Canasta and Hand & Foot. If anyone wants to play just call me up!

Have a great night!!

JUST ASK!

Here is my biggest “I don’t get it” of my life. When in life does it become wrong to ask for help, or ask for a drink when you are at someone’s house?

I hear people everyday who are struggling with something, but they never ask for help. What are family and friends for if not to help you when you need it. Give your friends and family a little credit and know that they are big enough to make their own decisions…I love helping my friends and family when I can – it gives me great joy…I assume that my friends and family feel the same. If I need help moving, I ask, if I need someone to open the door for me, I ask, if I need someone to go out to ice cream with me because I am in a poopy mood (yes I am an emotional eater) I ASK! Biggest pet peeve of mine is thinking or knowing that someone is struggling and they aren’t asking for help. This leads me to my attitude of – if you are too proud to ask for help, I’m not offering it. Sorry, but that is how I feel. I have watched numerous amounts of people struggle and I am standing right there…or I am in my house down the street while they are stressed out…Why aren’t they asking me to help? Either 1 – they have it under control despite how it looks, 2 – they don’t like/trust me, 3 – they are too proud. Now I have heard the argument – If you see someone struggling why don’t you just help them – and this is what I say to that…if it is a stranger or someone who I don’t have a relationship with I do! But if I know you: A – if you need help why aren’t you asking, maybe I think you need help but in fact things are going as you wanted because I am RIGHT THERE why wouldn’t you be asking for help if you needed it, B – are you secretly getting mad or annoyed at me for NOT helping even though you never asked?, C – are you scared of imposing on me, my time and energy…LET ME DECIDE THAT. I am a big girl and so are most other people in the world. If I don’t want to help I will say no. If I say yes, then that’s on me…if secretly inside I don’t want to…that’s my bad for saying yes so I better buck up and do it – you don’ t feel bad about that. And you aren’t going to pressure me into anything…trust me I will say NO if I don’t want to do it.

WHEW, that felt good.

2^nd annoyance – Why is it “rude” to ask for a drink or food at someones house? I don’t know about you, but when I have friends over I expect them to possibly be hungry or thirsty. One of the first things that Jared and I tell people when they come over is “Make yourself at home, we aren’t good about asking if you want things to eat or drink so the glasses are in there, fridge is there, snacks are over there.” Think about it, have you ever been offended or hurt by someone asking for a drink when they are at your house? Yet, I know people who have been thirsty for hours, and FINALLY I will ask them if they need something and they will guzzle it down in like 3 seconds…why? I do not understand this thinking at all.

Both of these annoyances hinder on one of my main life principles of communication and expectations. Don’t place expectations on other people – A) you are making it so that person can only let you down, B) You most likely are NOT communicating your expectations – so you end up getting mad, frustrated, or annoyed with other people and they don’t even know what the heck just happened. C) Control what you can control, get some courage say what you want to say or don’t be mad at other people for not reading your mind!

Thank you. That concludes tonight’s rant! JUST ASK PEOPLE!!!!

Funny Video

My dad showed me this the other day...It's funny.