Thankful.

I am just so thankful for how things have worked out. I do think that it's so true that things work out for a reason, and although things might be hard at the time, they do work out in the end if you just trust.

We love our house. I feel like we're all around much happier here and things are really coming together.

God's timing really does work out, and although it's obviously not always our timing (I would certainly know!) if you do trust in Him it does work out eventually, just maybe not as quick as one would like.

Most people nowadays don't go and have a baby right after they're married. Yeah, well, we did, and although at first it was a bit much to think about, it definitely has turned out well.

Then, most people thought we were crazy to live with my MIL for two years. I had people say to me there's no way they'd put up with it, probably meaning they'd demand differently from their husband. Now, I can't say I was polite to Steve during the whole ordeal, I did go along with it, and now it's definitely turned out. If we hadn't waited that long, we would have gotten a smaller house and not had as much money to furnish the house like we do now. We sacrificed so that we could reap the benefits later, not many secular people do that. On top of that, I do think it's funny how God's timing works out, as my parents are moving into a condo so they have been gracious and given us things that they won't have room for like a patio set, a computer desk and my childhood piano. Not necessary things, but funny how it all works out.

I just feel like being here has been such a blessing. On top of this, we are finally making good Catholic friends. Our one friends who have a son a month younger than Annamarie had invited us to their dinners that they would host for some college friends. Well, we finally have a place of our own so we got to host our own dinner on Monday. It was great. I made my chili and chicken and wild rice soups and made cookies for dessert. I honestly can't even explain how great it is to finally get to know some other Catholics that are our age and are just as conservative as us. One family has a daughter about 4 months older than Annamarie and just had another little girl in December. On his facebook page he's had a Novena up there, and I told Steve, anyone who puts a Novena up on their facebook, you know is a dedicated Catholic. One other family has a 6 month old daughter and now the mom stays home with her and the mom also likes to sew. I've been here for over two years now without many real friends, so I'm just excited to finally potentially make some great friends who are like us.

And with that, here's some random pictures from the past few weeks..

Helping daddy shovel


We love our house!


She got a taste of my chicken and wild rice soup (recipe is posted on my blog if you search for it) and loved it!



I mentioned in my last post how into hats and mittens she is. Well, here she got into all of them and was accessorizing.


The ill-fitting clothing makes me think of a bag lady


And then a random one of her playing with her older cousin. Given how family things have gone in the past year, I'm happy to see this and hope it will happen again in the future. Hoping things that have happened will be the past and family ties will be mended.


And with that, I'm going to try for a fourth time to put Annamarie down for her nap, an hour later than normal. If she asks for cheese, her baby or the doggy one more time, I might just cry. Nap times are my "me" time, and I get flustered when she doesn't take one!