30 before 30 [nail biter]

I finally stopped biting my nails!!  I honestly can't remember a time in my life when I didn't bite my nails or just gnaw on them in general (gross, right?).  It's a habit I wasn't proud of and always wished that I could have the self-control and patience to have pretty nails, but I eventually couldn't resist and never got to see the white of my nail.

If you only knew how many things my dad did to help break me of this habit growing up.  I tried popping a rubber-band around my wrist when I gave in, coating my nails with this really spicy stuff (which I only ended up kind of liking--so this one failed miserably), and getting people to slap my hand down or yell at me to stop when they saw me biting since I didn't even realize I did it.  Nothing worked!  Until I got pregnant.  The minute I learned about all the germs and nasty things lurking underneath my nails, I stopped instantly. No trip-ups, no hesitation--just stopped. And soon the white appeared! Prenatals also help keep them strong and growing, so that helped to see progress and get momentum.

Sooo this brings me to one of my list items:

12. stop biting my nails

I wasn't really sure what to do with my hands and it doesn't help that I'm double-jointed, but here they are in all their glory!  Since this picture has been taken, I have cut them down just so I can type and text, but it was nice having them for a while.

Now let's hope that I'll be able to keep this one and not revert to my old ways.  :) 

growing gilbert [24 weeks]

I still can't believe I'm pregnant sometimes.  It's such a surreal feeling to look in the mirror and see my stomach bulging and my belly button fighting to maintain its presence.  I feel so great and can hardly remember the misery of the first trimester.  This is why people have so many kids--you forget how terrible the terrible things about pregnancy are and quickly dwell in the little kicks you feel throughout the day and knowing that God is forming a new person to add to this world--the other stuff just seems trivial.  This whole process is truly beyond my scope of comprehension, but I am so very grateful to be allowed this time. 

I have been a little stressed though and last night's sermon really hit home for me.  I know I have 4 more months and will get everything done, but the more things that I seem to add to my plate, the more I worry about what isn't done,  whether it's design projects, nursery things, work to-do lists, etc., all of it together has me feeling very heavy.  Thankfully I have my very own live-in counselor to get me through my semi-panic attacks, and I go to a church that helps me realign my anxiousness and realize that I should be turning to my primary Counselor first and foremost.  A few things that made me think twice about my stresses that were talked about last night:

• "In the kingdom of God, we get to know the king."
• "Don't give into emotional reactions--ask the Lord first."
• "In prayer, remind God of who He is, tell Him what's going on, explain how you feel about it, and wait/listen on the Lord."
• "Even His silence is a response."
• "Boldly approach His throne of grace with confidence."
• "Live at His feet."

Those were just a few things I pulled from it that weren't new concepts (except the first two--had never heard it put that way), but spoke so loudly to me in the midst of my stress. I was so thankful for the reminder to say the least and am looking forward to reacting in these ways when something comes my way or I am dealing with a situation.

looking back [2011]

Time for my yearly reflective picture post!  Sometimes I feel so annoying snapping pics in the background all the time, but then I remember how thankful I am that I did because I am able to look back on all the great memories that the year held.  

2011 was a wonderful year of vacations, time with loved ones, exciting news, and rest.  I can't wait for all the wonderful things in store for us in 2012.  I'm a big believer in that our surroundings, circumstances, or people shouldn't affect your happiness or contentment because of the bigger picture we are called to live and our true source of joy and strength, so my hope for this year is to live that out to the fullest and to continue putting my hope and efforts into living in the kingdom and discovering how that looks in every new season of life.

[had a photo shoot with a best friend to kill time before church]

[she's gonna kill me...]

[the camera loves me]

[took a trip to Houston for shopping and to get away]

[worked on fun designs and did my fourth T-shirt]

[continued to be thankful for a job I enjoy with great people]

[spent time in Barnes & Noble reading and if you're Joel, then researching for fantasy baseball]

[celebrated Valentine's day]

[enjoyed homemade goodness]

[had our first community group hangout night--such awesome people]

[had a ladies night with the wonderful wives at our church]

[found my first gray hair--and still keep finding it even after I pluck it]

[witnessed our neighborhood flood--good to know where to low parts were!]

[continued to have dinner with my high school girls--here is Lauren asking an unsuspecting older man who was eating alone to move to a smaller table so we could sit since we had waited about 30 minutes--and Kendra was pregnant and hungry.  :) ]

[it worked!]

[organized and threw my first shower...]

[...with the help of best friends--couldn't have done it without them!!]

[enjoyed pounds and pounds of crawfish]

[had more community group hang outs]

[got my wisdom teeth out]

[recovered from many sunburns]

[started up softball again]

[celebrated Joel's 28th birthday with special bday cups for softball--among other things]

[riskapades continued but evolved with live-streaming]

[my little brother got married]

  [had lots of coffee/dessert dates at La Madeleine's]

[went to a fun family reunion with some of my favorite Cajuns]

[then weathered a random storm that we weren't prepared for]

[spent more time with best friends]

[went to Oklahoma to see my brother-in-law graduate flight school and faced a fear by getting in the smallest plane I've ever seen. Thankfully Jacob is a great pilot and him and Joel just laughed at how terrified I was.  :) ]

[got my DIY on, but rarely finished what I started--story of my life: great ideas/lack the follow through.]

[had lots of fun lunch dates]

[got to help a best friend get ready for a date--so fun!]

[spent a weekend at home for the first time in about 7 years--so this snowball was a must. 

[noticed all the pictures my parents still have up and how my eyebrows apparently went missing my senior year of high school]

[this is the picture that Joel calls me a Mexican--i think i looked like an overweight chipmunk :) ]

[dinner date with my sarah sue!]

[my dad's french toast--yum!]

[took a trip to Disney World with such a fun couple]

 

 [celebrated our 4-year anniversary on the beach]

[you're gonna get pregnant...]

[spent a weekend in New Orleans with my high school girls--so.much.laughter!!!]

[but first we got stranded after running over a tire]

[our hero who stopped to help us]

[looked through our kindergarten yearbook and laughed at everyone's pics, haha]

[some had more fun than others...]

[found out we were pregnant!!]

[continued our love of banagrams...]

[...and chocolate]

[community group cereal night..."I guess I'll just bring my Honey Nut Scooters..."]

[went to the beach again with more great friends]

[had our first cold night, so a fire and s'mores were a must]

[started to show...slowly but surely]

[got to meet the most precious and perfect little girl]

[found out baby J was a boy!]

[continued our Christmas tradition of chopping down our tree]

[felt Judah move for the first time at 20 weeks/5 months]

[had craft time to help decorate the nursery with meaningful art]

[before]

[after]

[had a two-week vacation over Christmas with each other, so that meant date nights and lots of intentional time together]

[drove all over and celebrated Christmas four times]

[Santa came--but he just brought stockings this year since he must be on a budget]

[got to hang out with Jacob again--Joel's younger brother]

[watched a marathon of Homeland--one of our new favs]

[started our baby registry--can we say overwhelming??]

[celebrated Christmas with my high school girls and our men] 

[this was when we realized sarah and anna were softball posing in the front]

[finally got a new mattress!  we'd been sleeping on Joel's mattress from high school and it had a serious dip in the middle--it was loooong overdue and I've never slept better!!] 

Well that about sums it up!  There was obviously more ways we spent our year, but this was the story from the lens of my camera. :)  Hope everyone had a great year and is excited for what's to come in 2012!