Paducah bound

Sydney and I are still in Paducah. Ryan found out that he was going to be in Evansville from Tuesday-Friday, so we decided to stay put. It is nice to have the change of pace & chance to visit better with family, but I do miss my hubby!! Love ya, Babe!!

It has happened...

All of my life, I have dreaded the day that my brother would be engaged. I know that may sound funny, but I have. My fear wasn't him growing up or being replaced as a mom would feel. It was more of whom he would pick than the actual engagement. Nathan and I have always had a decently close relationship. Of course, we've had our moments as any siblings would. For the most part though, we genuinely like to be around each other. So, my fear was that I would not get along with "her" whoever the "her" turned out to be.

That all brings us to Saturday night. I knew when he was walking out the door to pick up his girlfriend for their date, he would return through the same door as an engaged man. With all of the years of dread I had running through my veins gone & excitement overwhelming me, I stayed up to hear "the story".

His way of proposing to some could be seen as mean (See Steph's blog for the details of the night.), I saw it as sweet. She knew he was going to propose eventually (we were already bridesmaid dress shopping). He wanted more than anything to give her the surprise that many women get. He didn't just want to pop the question in an obvious way. He wanted to give her "that" moment. I thought it was sweet that he cared so much about how she would feel in the moment that he proposed. "The story" went as he had hoped and planned. It was precious seeing the excitement come out of him as he told my mom & me. He was bubbly, and I was relieved.

Kacey is a great girl! My fear has always been that I would not get along with the love of his life. My dream has always been that our families can be close & our children (no rush kids!) will know each other. I am thrilled that he picked a gal that I can call my sister & am happy to teach my daughter to call her aunt. She makes my brother happy & she's a girl that I can easily just hang out with. That's all I could ever hope for.

So, you two: CONGRATUALTIONS! I hope the transition from dating, to engaged, to married is an easy & fun one for you! I pray that God will bless you with years of happiness & that you will grow to be one in mind, body, & spirit. I couldn't be happier & can't wait to officially call Kacey "sister". Love you both!

Heading home

After a full week of visits with family, we are heading back to E-town today. I have really enjoyed our visits!! We have packed each day full of things to do & wonderful friends and family to see. Today has been my first day to catch up and do laundry. Feels weird for a stay-at-home-mom! It has been such a refreshing time with family.

Yesterday I got more of my shopping done with my grandmother. We got all of her shopping done except for 2 people!! She knows what she's getting them. So, all she has to do is go get it. How awesome would that be? It's not even December yet!! Mine is coming along, but not quite as well as hers.

I think I've decided to put up our Christmas tree. I had convinced myself that I wasn't going to do it. Little hands will be all over it & will make things much more complicated on my day-to-day chores. But I have seen her face light up at the stores when she looks at their tree. I LOVE Christmas trees, so I guess I'll give in & put it up. I am compromising though, I'm going to put the tree up with the lights & garland but no ornaments. I don't think she could handle staying away from all the pretty ornaments. Next year we'll have a whole tree...maybe.

Ryan has been in Memphis the past few days & I have missed him like crazy!! We've obviously done much longer separations before, but I still miss him...whether 2 days or 9 months with out him, I'm still sad. So, I'll be happy to have us all together again!

On the Mend

Sydney, Ryan, and I are all on the mend!!! Yay! I thought this day would never come! It feels like we have been sick forever. If it wasn't one thing, it was something else. Although we aren't 100%, I feel we have definitely made the turn. We are over the worst! Thank goodness.

We went out & about some this weekend. We (Sydney & I) have been in the house for too many days & needed some fresh air. So, Saturday we headed to Half Price Books to sell a few books. We hoped to get some good finds, but came up empty handed & not much cash for our sells. Oh well. You win some, you lose some. Next, we headed to the mall to find Ryan a new shirt & tie for our date this coming weekend. There we had success!!

I can't wait for this week to go by so we can have our date night!!! Saturday night we're going to Ryan's Navy Christmas Party!! We get to dress up & have an evening to ourselves. My wonderful dad (heehee...there ya go, Dad) and mom are keeping Sydney overnight. So we will have 24 hours just the 2 of us!!! Whoohoo! Although I HATE being in groups & around new people, I am looking forward to the evening because I get to spend it with my hubby...and he's going to be dressed up to boot! You just can't get any better than that!

Thanks to my wonderful dad (That's twice in one post!!) & mom for agreeing to keep Sydney. I know you all will have fun. I'll apologize in advance for the lack of sleep you'll be getting! :-/

This weekend was an awesome weekend!! We left Friday evening for Paducah. Saturday morning we headed to Lincoln, Il. My grandmother's sister (Billie) and her husband (Mac) were expecting us by 12-12:30. We arrived in Lincoln by 12:30. Quite shocking for the Anderson clan!! We did plan to leave much earlier so that when we did actually leave we wouldn't be late. Anyway, our trip was planned to visit family. Plus, we were going to my aunt & uncle's surprise 50th anniversary party. They were genuinely surprised!! It was so much fun seeing their faces & how happy they were that day. My cousin's wife, Lisa, planned the whole thing & did an amazing job!!! After the party Saturday afternoon, we all headed back to Billie & Mac's where we ate dinner & reminisced. I LOVE hearing old stories. Since my mother's mother died when she was a teenager, I never got to meet her. It is neat to see pictures and hear stories of those who came before me. I could sit & listen for hours! We did not have many hours though. We went to church with them on Sunday morning. I always love attending church with blood family. Church family is awesome, don't get me wrong. But, it is neat having a whole family there together to worship God! Not many people can get to do that, so it is a huge blessing to me when I get the chance. After church, we went to Cracker Barrel for some good country eatin'. We did eat good this weekend!! Anyway, that is my weekend in a nutshell. I will post pictures as soon as I get some in.

It was so neat getting to see Sydney interact with cousins. All of the cousins she's met have been older. She hasn't had any that she could sit in the floor and play with. She had a blast!! I think they did, too. Hopefully this weekend will help us keep our ties strong & not let so much time go by before another visit!

On the way home from this trip, I was driving while the other two in my little family were sleeping. I began thinking about how lucky I am. The ladies in my family commented on how lucky I am to have Ryan. They could see how amazing of a husband he is! I completely agree with them!!! I went from thinking about my blessings with Ryan to thinking about my parents and brother. Then from them to my extended family on both my mother & my father's side. I am truly blessed to have such amazing people around me. It isn't common these days to have most of your family be Christian. Mine are & I am so thankful. I have people around me that love me despite my flaws. I couldn't ask for much more than that.

Family weekend

In just a few hours we will be heading to Paducah to begin our family weekend. Tomorrow morning my parents, Nathan, Ryan, Sydney, and I are heading to Lincoln, Il to visit some of our extended relatives. Most of the time when I'm talking about my extended family I am talking about my father's family. This weekend is all about my mom's family. I haven't seen them in 8 years!!! Since my wedding was a quick wedding (For those of you who don't know, Ryan was called up shortly after 9-11 and we married before he shipped out. I planned my wedding in 36 hours!), my family was not able to come to it. We all have been horrible about keeping in touch! Recently though, we have started trying and have pulled together for one weekend. They have not met Ryan or Sydney, so it should be a lot of fun. Plus, one of my cousins has had 2 kids that I have never met. This weekend is just what we all need! I'll be sure to post when we get back on Sunday!

Only 7 more days until our vacation!!!!!! Whoohoo!!!

God is good

all the time. All the time, God is good. It is so easy to make that statement when things are going our way, isn't it?! Over the last month or so our family has been in the midst of a health scare for one of our family members. To say that it was on our minds constantly is probably an understatement. We found out last night that she is 100% OK!!! Yay!!!! So, today we are praising God with one LOUD voice!! Thank you, God.

Update

We're (Sydney and I) are still in Paducah. We've had a ton of fun over the last several days. Saturday night we got to see family that we haven't seen in years!! It was really neat seeing how Ryan's little cousins have grown. They aren't so little anymore. Sunday we had some special time with Ryan's brother & sister-in-law, aunt, and parents. It was great being with all of them. Above is a picture of Uncle Kit (Ryan's brother) and Sydney. He was posing for the camera!! Sydney is so lucky to have such awesome aunts and uncles!!!

Family time & date night

This weekend we are heading to Paducah. Many of you will say, "Surprise, surprise!" But to our defense, we haven't been in a few weeks. This weekend is extra special! We are getting a date night Saturday night. Whoohoo!! We haven't been out, just the two of us, in quite a while. So, I am looking forward to some special alone time with my hubby.

We were originally hoping to go to see Bill Envall (our all-time favorite comedian) in Metropolis that night, but the tickets were sold out before we could get them. :-( Oh well. Since my parents had already agreed to keep Sydney that night, we decided we would still go in & have a night to ourselves. Hopefully we'll laugh as much at the movie as we would have laughed with Bill.

So babe, I'm looking forward to this weekend & I'm looking forward to some time with you. LOVE YOU!!

Also this weekend, Ryan's aunt and uncle will be in. We're hoping to get to see them as well. I've been trying to think the last time we saw them. It might have been before we moved to TX!!! So, we look forward to introducing them to Sydney & getting some time with them.

Of course, we look forward to seeing everyone else. We are so lucky to be so close to family! See you all this weekend!!

Gran's visit

Sunday afternoon Ryan's mom (aka Gran) came for a visit. She stayed until yesterday afternoon. We had a great visit! Sunday night we watched Blue Comedy Tour and saw fireworks from our front deck. The local mega-church did fireworks. It isn't far from our apartment. So when we heard pops during our movie, Ryan went to check out the noise. We could see the fireworks from our place! How cool!! That meant all of us could enjoy it. I really wanted to see fireworks this year, but wasn't sure that Sydney would enjoy it since she doesn't like loud noises. She did watch these & seemed to like them.

On Saturday we met Ryan in Louisville for lunch & Gran initiated me in to Value City. I had heard of the stores before & even seen one, but had never been it. It was pretty cool...kind of like a big Big Lots. Sydney came out with a few things.

We had a great time together & look forward to many more visits! :-)

We're back!

We left E-town Friday evening for Paducah, where we spent the Father's Day weekend. It was a fairly laid back weekend. We did a few things, but didn't feel the need to pack everything in one day. My dad and Ryan went to KY Dam to see the new bridge that is being built with a guy that is in charge of it. They both said it was really neat. Saturday night we went to Bob's Drive-In (YUM!) and then on to After Dinner downtown. Sunday we had a delicious meal made mostly by Gma. Nathan was in that day, too. :-)


We found out on Friday that Ryan would be working Monday & Tuesday in Nashville. We thought about Sydney and me staying in Paducah while he worked Monday & Tuesday, but once we realized that he would be working in Louisville on Wednesday that idea was ruled out. BUT, when Nathan said he had Monday off plans changed. Although we had only packed enough clothes for the weekend, we decided to wash the clothes at Mom & Dad's and have all three of us go to Nashville Sunday night & stay in a hotel through today. Ryan worked on Monday while Sydney and I got to hang out with Uncle Nathan. It was a lot of fun. We went to Opry Mills since it was raining and most everything else could be rulled out. When the rain gave way in the afternoon we put our newly purchased bathing suits on and went down to his pool! It was so great getting to hang out with Nathan. Although we only live 2 hours away from each other, it feels like we never get to see each other.



So, it is 6 o'clock on Tuesday night and we are just now getting in town. Quite a fun weekend!! Well...for Sydney & me anyway! ;-) Ryan got to have fun, too. He only worked until 2 on Monday & was done by 11 today!

I hope you all had a very happy Father's Day, too!

A Day at the Zoo

Saturday we went with my mom & brother to the Nashville Zoo. We joined a much bigger group walking for CF. It was a perfect day weather-wise--cool in the morning & perfect in the afternoon! We saw so many different animals & had a relaxing time together.

After the Zoo, my dad joined us & we went to Famous Dave's. I had never heard of it before, but it was good! We left there & went downtown for Nashville's City Fest. It was...an experience! Ha! It really was great. They shut down a few of the streets & had a stage set up where several big names performed. The part that made it "an experince" was when one of the first performers started his set. From the second it started it was LOUD. I have never heard anything go from zero to hurting loud that fast before, but he did. Sydney was not happy at all. So, I grabbed her out of the stroller & dashed down an alley to get away from the noise. Once away, she was completely fine again. It was quite funny though. The further you got away from this artist, the better he sounded! All in all, it was a ton of fun. Hope you enjoyed the pictures.

Mother's Day

My first Mother's Day was WONDERFUL! We went to church with my family--including my grandmother and uncle. After church, we went back to my mom's house where my dad and Ryan grilled pork chops and chicken. The lunch was delicious!! We ate out back on the patio where the weather was absolutely perfect. I think it was close to 6 o'clock before we went back inside! Ryan, Sydney, my mom, dad, & I took a walk at dusk around the neighborhood. We ended the day with the movie The Pursuit of Happyness. It was an absolutely perfect day!!

Well...perfect minus my back still hurting. I'm not sure what is wrong with it & am hoping to get into a doctor soon. I've been trying to take it easy, but with a 6 month old it is very difficult. A few of you have asked about it over email, so I thought I would give you an update.

While we were in Paducah, Ryan found out that he is working in Nashville, TN Monday-Wednesday this week. So, Sydney and I decided to stay in Paducah until Ryan heads back to E-town. How fun?! We got to spend the day yesterday with my grandmother. It was such a wonderful day for all of us! Today, we are being lazy and hanging out at my mom's. It looks to be a good day!

Oh! while we were at my grandmother's yesterday Sydney rolled over from her back to her front!! Whoohoo! Before the day was over, she rolled over 4 times! I was so excited for her. She looked at me like, "What is your problem?" When I was telling her good job. Oh well. I'm happy for my baby girl. Maybe she will crawl before she walks! We'll see...

Trip & Back Issues

Sydney and I were given the privilege to travel along with Ryan while he worked in Champaign, IL on Monday and Tuesday. We went to Paducah for the weekend to spend an early Mother's Day with his mom and drop Sam off at my mom's. Sunday afternoon we headed to Champaign. It was a 4 hour trip. Most of the scenery was pretty boring so I dove into my Mary Higgins Clark book (which I finished on this trip!). GOOD BOOK!! I love her! Anyway, back to the subject. We got in around dinner time at the hotel. We ate our dinner & hit the indoor pool. It was so fun to introduce Sydney to a pool. Since my grandparents had a pool & lived 2 doors down from us, most of my childhood memories involve a pool. So, it was nice to start some memories with her.

After our pool fun, we headed back up to the room to get ready for bed. Once we got in bed, my back started really hurting! It was weird because it was all of the sudden. I took as much medicine as the directions said I could taken and it still did not help. At midnight, Ryan went to the store and got me some sleeping pills. Finally, at 3 am I fell asleep!

Yesterday, Wednesday, I went to the doctor because the pain had gotten a little better since Sunday night, but was still there. She did an x-ray and said that I have two vertebrates that are closer together than the rest. She thought that *might* be causing the pain. She prescribed me some medicine to take at night & told me what to take during the day (since I can't be drowsy while taking care of my little one). If it isn't better in a few days she suggested that I find a family doctor (I went to an urgent care place because I couldn't get in quickly as a new patient with any other doctors.) and have an MRI done. There are several things that she said could be wrong--none of them fun! I just pray that this medicine helps & the pain goes away!!

All of that to say, our trip away was a good one, but it was overshadowed by this pain. No fun! At least Sydney and I got a change of scenery & were able to spend some fun time with Ryan. I love that now that I'm a stay-at-home-mom we can pack up and go with him! How cool?! All in all, it was a great trip! Thanks babe for letting us go! Love you!

Easter Weekend

I promised around Easter that I would post pictures. Unfortunately, our best pictures were taken on the camera where the cord to the computer was missing! We didn't realize it until after that weekend. Today, Ryan went by storage & found the cord for me. As promised, the pictures are being posted as soon as I was able. Hope you enjoy!

This Easter bunny says, "My First Easter". I think she was trying to eat it more than hug it, but I'll go with she was giving it a hug! :-)

Wonderful, wonderful weekend

Friday we headed to Paducah. Not really knowing why we were going in, we decided to go anyway. Ryan's parents had too many commitments to see us that weekend, my grandmother was sick, my father was out-of-town until Saturday night, & my mom had to write a paper on Saturday!!! We didn't know about Ryan's parents & my grandmother until right before we left. Feeling a little unsure if we should go in or not, we decided to anyway. It was a WONDERFUL decision. Now, don't get me wrong, we would have loved to see Ryan's parents as well as my grandmother, but the weekend turned out to be a huge blessing.

On Saturday to get out of my mother's hair, we went to Land Between the Lakes. We drove for a little while & then chose to find a place to hike. Above are pictures of our hike. Sydney really enjoyed being out in the woods. We loved being away from the world. It was a P-E-R-F-E-C-T day--mid to upper-70's & not a cloud in the sky. Normally we wouldn't be able to make that kind of outing because we would have to see everyone in the short amount of time that we get in a weekend. I guess we could go anyway, but we would feel guilty while being out there. So, it was perfect...a perfect day with no guilt.

Saturday night Nathan & Sarah came in. They met us at Rafferty's for dessert. I was so thrilled to hear that they were coming. We had a great time at dinner.

The next day, Sunday, we went to church & then to the church picnic at Mike Miller Park. It was so great to be around the Reidland crowd. Reidland will always be my safe-haven no matter where I am. It was nice to be around everyone. And the weather again was perfect...a little windy at first, but when the wind died down, it was GREAT!

I have to say that this past weekend was exactly what I needed. With the move & all, I have been quite blah lately. Now...I'm back! I am upbeat & looking forward to each day. It was defitely the pick-me-up I needed!

Happy Easter!

Today is a happy day. A month or so ago we didn't think we would be in Paducah for Easter. We had planned to & told family at Christmas that we would be. But since we knew that Ryan was getting laid off we thought there wouldn't be a chance for us to be in. Sydney's first Easter & her grandparents wouldn't get to see her. We were sad & trying to figure out how we could make it happen. God knew better. He knew we would be with family today. How awesome is that?! I'm sure he has much bigger issues to deal with, but he dealt with ours.

It has been a good day & good weekend. We head home tonight (only 2 1/2 hours!) It sure beats that 11 hour drive!!

I hope each of you have a great Easter as well. Pictures to come tomorrow.

Dream come true

Today a dream of mine came true. It was my first day as an official stay at home mom!!!!! Honestly, after I had Sydney I didn't think this day would come. In this day in age, it is very difficult to be able to survive on one income. So, I am VERY thankful that we are fortunate enough for me to be able to stay home. WHOOHOO!!! Thank you God for providing this opportunity. Although the transition is hard, it is a dream come true.

Elizabethtown...The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

We found out today that Ryan is definitely being transferred to Elizabethtown, KY!!!! I am so excited & anxious. It will be so great to be 3 hours away from family. We will be able to get in for weekends & will be able to see our siblings when they are visiting parents. How great! I am thankful that Sydney will be closer to her family.

I am very anxious (in a bad way) about leaving my friends. I honestly have had better friends here in TX than I have had in my life! They allow me to be me & still like me! I can express my feelings and say what I think without fear of judgment. How amazing is that?! Plus, they are the most wonderful, kind-hearted Christian women. They are great examples how to be a Christian wife, mother, and friend.

To the three women who have been in my life to encourage me, strengthen me, laugh with me, and cry with me:

Thank you. You have made me a better person because of your faith in God & faith in me. I love each of you & it is going to break my heart to leave you. Maybe someday the universe will be kind & put us back together. Until then, know that you have been family to me (and I don’t use that word—family—lightly). You will always be seen as my sisters.

Now that the tears are streaming, I will ask for your prayers. Pray that God will have his hand on this move & his hand on our hearts as they are breaking.

Better outlook

I woke up to a much refreshed look on life today. No, I didn't automatically wake up & think happier thoughts, but I did keep telling myself over & over that things are going to be ok. I'm actually starting to believe it...

I didn't want to say in my last blog what all was going on because we hadn't had the chance to tell family yet and there are some people who read my blog & fell the need to run to family members & tell them. It is like they get a kick out of knowing before my family does...which hurts my family's feelings (rightfully so!) So, I have learned my lesson & have started holding off on new information until all the appropriate people have been told. Sometimes that's good, and sometimes it stinks because I am not always able to write what I feel. Oh well. People are selfish by nature I guess (not family...others).

I was upset the other day because Ryan found out that his company lost their only account in the DFW area!!! Naturally, I began to panic and think of every bill that we can't cut out. Ryan stayed calm & level-headed about it all...thank goodness!! Things are looking up though. He has been contacted by a supervisor for the company that is taking over the account. Hopefully he will be picked up with that new company & there won't be any lags in pay. If not, I'm sure God has the plan we are intended to take. I just need to have faith & sit back & watch what doors he opens.

So many times in my life I forget that I am not in control. When things are going well it is easy for me to think that it is us who are paying our bills. It is never us. It is always God who provides...I just tend to forget. Maybe all of our "troubles" lately are just reminders that he is in as much control today as he was yesterday and the day before. I wish I could remember these things so that he wouldn't have to remind me! ;-)

I have also realized that our whole life is a test. I use to say that the trials are times when we are tested. I don't believe that to be entirely true. We are constantly tested & are probably more tested during the good times vs. the bad times. It is easy to look to him when times get tough. It is harder when things are running smoothly.

"Thank you, God, for putting food on our table, roof over our head, and people to love. May I NEVER forget that you are in control of my life. I completely trust you to take care of us and provide as much tomorrow as you did today. I anxiously await what doors you are opening as I see these doors closing. I love you & put my family in your hands."

Thanks to all who have been praying. Please continue to do so. Maybe pray that I won't be so stubborn to learn next time! :-)