A Future and a Hope

Reality is finally beginning to set in of what the year 2014 might look like for me.  I'm sitting here on the couch looking outside to my backyard.  I foresee many more days like this. Granted, my exhaustion level will probably be at a maximum. I'll probably be rocking or feeding Lily and trying to stay awake rather than typing on my blog.  Baby cries will probably echo throughout the neighborhood, but I'll have the same view, and I'm confident that God will give me the strength needed to make it through.

I'm rereading the story of Ruth again.  I am always blown away by the loyalty Ruth shows Naomi in Chapter 1.  Questions race through my head.  Questions like:  What did Naomi do to make her such an awesome mother-in-law?  What was Ruth's life like in Moab before she married Naomi's son?  Was she an adventurer at heart like me?  Did going back to her old life sound mundane?  What was she thinking?!

Anyway, I like to think that she was an adventurer at heart. She was ready for the challenge and had a partner in crime, who just happened to be her mother-in-law.  Whatever the case, her story has been used in countless ways to encourage girls like me.

As a teenager and college student, I couldn't help but wonder about the man God had in store for me to marry.  I would think about him often and dream about the day we'd be together.  I played up marriage in my mind like it was a fairy tale of some sort.  Would he be tall, dark and handsome?  Would he have a southern family that ate together and celebrated holidays the way I was used to?  Would he sing or preach or perhaps even be a missionary?  Where would we live, and what would our life look like together?  All these questions raced through my head, and as I got older I began to seek out these types of gentlemen.  Anytime I would meet a guy, I'd wonder to myself if he was potential prospect.

Enter Mike Wolfe.  5'10", able to hold a decent tan, with boyishly handsome features. Adventurer, loyal friend, hard worker, and definitely not from the South.  I wasn't convinced on our first few encounters with each other. Nice guy?  Yes. Husband material?  I wasn't too sure.

Fast forward six years.  It was six years ago (to the weekend) that I went on my first date with this boy from Gary, Indiana.  I remember it clearly.  He picked me up in his green minivan from the camp where I was working and living.  We drove down to Waikiki to a nice restaurant where we just missed our reservation.  All the while, I still felt like something wasn't right.  We were friends and did things together often, but could I picture this man as my husband?  Thoughts swirled and jumbled in my head as we ate at an alternate (and expensive) location.  He sealed the deal after dinner by taking my hand and giving me his jacket.  It was then that I knew something was different.  "Friends" don't hold hands on dates.  

I'm not exactly sure how a relationship goes from friendship to romance, but ours did that night.  We talked about the things we wanted in a future spouse, we held hands, and I knew that the affection displayed (however small it may have been) was mutual.

A pre-engagement hike.

On this week leading up to Valentine's Day, I think about the two love's of my life:  Jesus Christ and my husband.  I hope that I will never put my husband above Christ.  It's easy to trust in the tangible.  To trust that a paycheck will take care of me.  That my husband's embrace will make all my frustrations dissipate.  This morning, I pray that I would turn my eyes to Jesus--the author and finisher of my faith who is seated at God's right hand--and spend the necessary time with him in prayer.  I hope that by spending time together, I would fall more in love with the Savior who loved me before there was time.

"Before There Was Time" by Caedmon's Call

One of my favorite passages of scripture is Psalm 139.  I love the entire chapter, but these verses speak to me in particular:

13 For you created my inmost being;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
    when I was made in the secret place,
    when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
    all the days ordained for me were written in your book
    before one of them came to be.

Psalm 139:13-16

Great Start to the Weekend!

Mike and I had a wonderful start to our long MLK day weekend!  We've been accomplishing little things around the house that make big differences in my opinion.

I finished the second coat of varnish on the front doors.  They are looking a little more shiny now!

View from outside.

View from inside.  They just need one more coat!

Our Amazon fixtures came this week, so we were excited to get some finishing touches put up in the bathrooms.  It’s the little things in life, you know… like finally having your toilet paper on a holder, or hanging your towel on a towel rack rather than over the door.  Necessary for living?  No.  Nice to have?  Absolutely!

The toilet paper now has a home :)

Door stoppers for all the bedrooms and bathrooms (magnetic).

I also finally brought myself around to putting the hardware on the vanities.  Again, it’s nice to be able to use the drawers!

I used my handiwork to drill the holes for these, and then Mike finished up!

As I type, Mike is currently installing a curved Moen shower rod.  He had to buy a specialty bit to drill into this particular tile.  Here’s a look at all three of our bathrooms.  We still need to purchase mirrors, but after that, they are pretty much complete.  Thought it would be neat to give you a taste of the before and after on the master bathroom... Enjoy :)

A little reminder of just how FAR we've come... old master.

New master bath (minus the vanity mirror).

Another shot to show off the fantastic tile
work by my hubby (Mike Wolfe) and Uncle Frank Tau'a!  Nice work
gentlemen.  Took the inaugural shower in there last night!  Very spacious.

Here's what the Master currently looks like.  Still have a
way to go with decor, but no rush.  I can save that for later.

Upstairs guest bath.  Went with the beach theme.

Another to show off the tile work ;)

And finally the downstairs bath.  Still needs trim, a mirror, and glass for the shower, but totally usable as a nice half bath for now.  Wasn't too in love with the color once it went up on the walls, but it's growing on me.

Downstairs guest bath.

Tired Momma

   This momma is tired!  I can officially say that I'm starting to have low back pain when I stand for long periods of time.  Yowzers, it's like my tailbone needs to pop or something.  Baby pressure, hehe.  It started this weekend when I worked on house projects all day both Saturday and Sunday!  Going into week 20, if that's my only qualm with pregnancy, then I guess I can't complain :)

Week 19, in the classroom.  I'm going to try to
remind my students to take one every week!

In other news, Baby is healthy and likes to move a lot.  We found out we're having a GIRL!

The first and only thing I have bought for our baby girl... since she will love her daddy!
Five Onsies for ten bucks.  Besides free, you can't beat that.  I love Ross!

Baby Girl is already waving hello!  She has basketball hands like her mom :)

   On another note, I finished my semester grades and comments on Friday... it feels really good to be done.  There are still a lot of things I need to work on at school, but at least that task isn't looming over my head anymore.  

   I do feel that we got a lot accomplished this weekend.  This was our first weekend back in Hawaii since before the holidays, so there was a lot to get in order.  I can cross a few things off my list, but still have a long list to go.

   People from church and Mike's work have already blessed us with a bunch of baby stuff, but a nursery is one of the last things on my mind right now.  Here's what the room looks like so far.

Pretty lame, huh?  But it has a lot of potential... :)

   Here's a peek at what Mike and I worked on this weekend.  It's been a long time coming (only about 7 months), but we're finally closing the gap!  I'm sure our neighbors appreciate our doors being the same color again.

Touring the house before we bought it.  Like the chandelier? 

View from front entrance.

Work in progress.

Still in progress.

First day of sanding.

Finally finishing up... painting the surrounding trim to match.

Stain complete, but still need to varnish.

Just a little messy.

That'll take a while to come off.

View from inside.

Another shot, still need to varnish.  It was too dark outside to take a pic of the front.

Short House Update

Well, here are some photos of the house as it's coming along.  I'm hoping to get some before and after pics going here pretty soon, but this was all I could muster up today. 

Carpet was installed on Dec. 6th, and since then we've been slowly unpacking boxes from the garage.  There's not really a rush.  I mean, we've waited for 6 months already, what's a few more? :) 

Here's the master as it looks right now.  Still haven't unpacked
my dresser because we need to look for a new one.  

We put the closet stuff that was up before back up and it works for now.  
It's plenty of space for Mike, but it doesn't come close to housing my stuff, haha!

Here's the baby room now.  Just carpet.  Friends from church
are giving us a crib, so we need to pick that up soon!

The hall as you come up the stairs.

The guest room for now :)

The dining room, right when you come down the stairs.

Un-decorated living room.

From corner, view of kitchen and dining room.

Another shot.

That's all I've got for now.  Maybe once we get a little more settled, I'll take some better pics and do some before and after. It's coming along!  We are very blessed!

Feeling Blessed

I'm sitting here in my newly renovated kitchen, at the island, with spruce candles lit all around me.  Sinatra is singing "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" in the background, and I'm feeling very blessed!

I would say there's a chill in the air, but by most people's standards 68 isn't chilly.  For Hawaii, that's close to frigid.  Now it's raining, and my hot chocolate in my nutcracker mug tastes better than ever.

This is the first time I've been able to really sit and reflect in my new home.  It's actually quite comfortable now, and I enjoy being here.  I've had such a busy few months since the start of school.  These few moments before church on a Sunday morning are precious to me.

I was feeling a bit under the weather this past week, and had to miss two days of school because of flu symptoms.  Other than the congestion and sinus stuff, I've felt ok since.  I still barely feel pregnant.  Baby is tucked VERY low, so regular clothes are starting to get a little uncomfortable.  I'll soon be investing in some comfortable skirts and modest elastic pants with no shame.

At 15 weeks, I still haven't really had any cravings other than the usual for me -- chocolate.  Mike says he's pretty sure it's not a pregnancy craving, and I think he's right :)  As far as typical pregnancy symptoms, I can't really complain.  Slight queasiness in the first trimester, and aversions to nasty smells.  I also have had a VERY strong gag reflex to just about anything in the mornings, but have only come close to throwing up a few times.

I know I still have 25 weeks to go, but pregnancy hasn't been bad at all.  Usually I forget I'm with child.  I'm barely showing.

Me and my stunnah shades :)  Hard to believe it's December, huh?

On another note, coaching soccer this season has been really fun!  Sometimes I ask myself why I decided to commit to it, but busy seasons come and go.  I'll remember this team for a long time.  Getting to know the girls has been awesome!  And even though we had a losing season, I was able to watch the girls grow individually and as team.  They came together from three different schools and got to know and trust each other quickly.  Here's just a sample of their quirkiness.

Practice - Bun Day Monday

End of season pool party at my house

Good times :)

Coaching solo while Rene' was in AK.  Under the lights at Kamehameha!

Last topic:  HOUSE

Since there's so much to talk about, I'll save that for a separate post.  

I'm so ready for our trip to Florida.  It will be a much needed break from school and wild children.  I'm ready to stand by my sister, Anna, as she commits herself as Steven's wife!  Only a few more weeks, sis!  

Love you, Anna!

A Day of Thankfulness

It’s been so long since my last update.  For anyone who’s following (which is probably nobody at this point), I apologize.  Life has been very busy, and I have been lazy.  I started coaching soccer with a friend from school back in October, so I usually don’t get home until around 7pm every night.  The season goes through December, so only a few more games left!  It’s been a fun experience and I enjoy working with the girls in a setting other than school.  It creates great bonding opportunities, but coaching is a big commitment too. Thankfully, I'm just an assistant coach!

HOUSE NEWS
We have finally moved into our house, but haven’t unpacked yet!  The first few weeks of November were a little rough.  We showered outside by the pool.  The water was warm, but the air outside a bit nippy.  Now we are happily showering in our upstairs guest bathroom which has beautiful six inch tiles for the tub surround.  I splurged on a cute shower curtain from Bed, Bath & Beyond and look forward to the day I get to add the finishing touches to everything.  We are still waiting on both the upstairs vanities and have to decide what we plan to do for countertops.  The last thing before carpet is finishing up the master bath tile work. 

The carpet is scheduled to be installed on December 6^th, so hopefully all of the construction is finished by then!  Once that’s in, I think it will feel much more like a home rather than a construction site.  We are currently sleeping on an air mattress that we borrowed from someone at our church.  It’s really comfortable, but I can’t wait for carpet!

We are hoping to buy a dishwasher this weekend and an over-the-range microwave.  We’ve decided to wait on a stove and refrigerator.  The white will have to do for now while we save up for stainless steel.  They both work perfectly fine, so it shouldn’t be an issue.  We had our sink hooked up last night too, so I finally have a place to wash dishes now if the issue arises J

There are so many other things that can and will be done eventually: trim throughout, touch up paint, cleaning windows and screens, crafting mirror frames, window coverings, closet and pantry shelving and doors, pressure washing the back pool deck, staining the front door, decorating (everything), etc.   The good news is that none of that is essential to living here.  They are all things we want to do eventually, but can also wait until we save up more money and have more time. 

BABY NEWS
In addition to decorating and putting the finishing touches on the house, I now have a baby room to think about.  Mike and I found out that we’re expecting a little one in early June!  It’s all very exciting and overwhelming at the same time.  I have been feeling extremely exhausted these past few weeks as the baby is in the cooker.  I wouldn’t say I have morning sickness, but I get queasy when I smell certain things or don’t eat often enough.  I haven’t actually thrown up yet, so that’s good J  I’m thirteen weeks today on this lovely Thanksgiving, and I have so much to be thankful for! 

More news later.  Enjoy the pictures J

Downstairs bathroom before the vanity and toilet.

Baby Wolfe :)

Kinda blurry... but you get the idea ;)

Back to the Island

Vacation is a wonderful thing.  I am so thankful that Mike and I were able to go on vacation and visit his friends and family in the Midwest.

We had a fun-filled week of birthday parties, farmers' markets, football games, holding babies, shopping, playing phase 10 which led to water-breaking, which led to the birth of our friends' first born--a baby boy, driving, visiting Bethel students, driving some more, an Indians baseball game, driving, building a stair rail, picking apples from an orchard, shopping, driving, camping and to cap it off--a beautiful wedding.

We didn't really have a dull day.

Now it's back to work today.  I'm looking forward to seeing my students again and getting back into the grove of things.  It'll probably take me a while to catch up with all the grading and lesson planning, but I'm so thankful I have a job that I enjoy!

Meanwhile, we'll still keep plugging away at our house.  The counter tops are supposed to be installed today.  I'm really excited about that!

I pray that I would be productive today with all that needs to be accomplished.  I pray I would lean on Jesus for my strength and do everything to honor his name.  I pray also for my loved ones that they'd do the same.