300!

This is my 300th post on this blog!  It's fun to go back through the posts and see how things have changed in life.  It helps me count my many blessings.  :)

Right now I'm sitting in our basement, in front of our pellet stove, enjoying the heat and the beauty of the flames.  It seems like mother nature wants to skip fall this year, jumping straight from summer to winter.  I do love fall, but I love winter more, so I don't mind the cold outside, and we've been praying for snow at our house for weeks!  ;)

We had the amazing opportunity to listen to General Conference this weekend, and I feel so uplifted, inspired, and encouraged from all of the talks!  They were all so incredible, I don't think I could choose a favorite.  But there are a few that really stand out in my memory -- Elder Bednar's talk most of all.  The law of tithing has always been something that I have had a strong testimony of, and his talk was all about that.  Also, he mentioned a specific trial that we are dealing with right now: finding a job.  He spoke of how we sometimes pray for one blessing so hard that we don't notice the other amazing blessings that God gives us.  He said that sometimes we just need to be patient and wait upon the Lord, and I felt the Spirit whisper to my heart that God has a plan for us, and we do need to be patient now.  It's difficult when we've been trying so hard to do what the Lord would have us do, and things just haven't turned out the way that we expected them to.  Thankfully, God is in control!

We're 12 weeks along in our pregnancy now!  After waiting, wishing, hoping, and praying for the last 7 years, it's still hard to believe that we are finally pregnant!  But the constant morning sickness helps it all feel more real.  ;)  Nicole includes "the baby" in all of her plans, and talks about the little changes that she'll have to make so that "the baby" doesn't get into her toys and things.  :)  She desperately wants to learn how to change diapers now, so that she'll be able to help out more when the baby arrives.  I think that I'll buy a small pack of diapers to let her practice on her dolls (when we have a steady income, that is...), even though changing a doll's diaper isn't the greatest preparation for changing a wriggling baby's diaper!  ;)

I don't know if I mentioned this before or not, but Ryan and Nicole were both petitioning to wait until the baby was born to find out the gender.  I, personally, think that would be fun to do sometime...but not this time!  After waiting so long (and after getting rid of almost all of our baby stuff), I want to find out whether we're having a boy or a girl a.s.a.p.!  And, I'm proud to say that, after taking Ryan to do some window shopping for car seats and strollers, I was able to convince him to switch sides.  ;)  So, hopefully in about 8 more weeks we'll be able to find out if there will be more pink or blue in our future!  :)

You'd think that, for my 300th post, I'd have something more interesting to share...but nope!  Just my random thoughts!  Hope you're not too disappointed! ;)