Things on my mind...

Joseph, above, while hiking at Fort Davis State Park. Good ole West Texas.

With the move near, my mind is occupied with so many different feelings. So what better way to sort them out?

First off, and rather unfortunately, some of our closest friends here in Austin didn't take the news so great. Don't get me wrong, they were "supportive" in a sense of the word ("we want you to be happy"), but I got my feelings quite hurt when they questioned our motives for moving. "Neither one of you have jobs yet?" (insert unapproving glare here). "You were so unhappy last time" (Last time I was a lot younger and didn't want to settle down and have babies). The list could go on and on...but in order to preserve the friendship, I should quit while I'm ahead. I'll just say that I was hurt by our dearest and closest friends questioning our motives to take back control of our lives... I'm sure they meant well, and I still love them dearly, but it was painful to hear.

Which brings me to the next point. Our lovely friends in Midland are soooo supportive of this drastic change and I feel awful for not being more invested in their lives while we were away. We sort of put them on the back-burner since we weren't close in proximity, yet they still love us regardless of that. I mean I feel awful. We missed not only Laney's first, but second year birthday party! And I wasn't there for baby Kipton's baby shower. One of my longest friends got married this month and I didn't make the trip for her shower either. Gosh guys, I'm so sorry. I've missed so many of your life milestones and want to be there for future ones. And will be. Promise!

And speaking of milestones. I feel like I'm about to embark on one myself. Not a huge deal, but Clear Springs has been such a steady part of my life for the past five years in New Braunfels (on and off). I will truly miss my red (and blue) shirt family. I'll miss stealing french fries and hush puppies off the line, and having girl talk at the wait station, and complaining about all the overweight hillbillies, and sweating my butt off in the summer, and freezing in the winter, and chasing lizards out of the booths, and smiling at Nikki's loud laugh, and tallying the walkers/wheelchairs/canes on slow mornings, and talking about life and God with Tami, and so many other things! Clear Springs was not only the place where I went to work, but more of a community and big family. I'm glad to move on, but I will miss each and every one of you people like crazy.

We are packing up the apartment and even this is bittersweet. We live in quaint little Buda and even though I'm soooooooooo stinkin' glad to NOT have a creeper for a neighbor, I'll miss out tiny one bedroom apartment. I know it's just stuff, but I'm sad to put our books and home into storage until we find a new place. I feel like all the stuff is hiding away, like the toys on Toy Story, for fear of being thrown out or donated. But don't worry, everyone will find a good home, whether it be our new one, or Half Price Books. :)

So to end on a sweet note, I have to share with you how lovely my husband is. I mean, really, this guy is just as pure and sweet and loving as they come. He is just as excited as I am to have a baby, if not more! It's so cute. At random times throughout the day he'll say things like "I can't decide which one I want more? A girl or a boy?". Or he'll look at me very inquisitively and say "I hope our little girl looks like her mama". He often kisses my tummy and says things like "I can't wait until there's a little baby in there" and asks "do you feel pregnant?". It's so sweet. And while we aren't pregnant yet, we both can't wait until we are!

Tonight I think we should all "Count your blessings, name them one by one. Count your blessings see what God has done."