3 years into it... Part 2

So this is a bit overdue, I couldn't do it earlier but it's still april so it counts. Let's keep the memories coming!

In June 2010 I was hired by the Consulate, so our period of comfortable living begun. With the extra income we were able to a lot more relaxed with our spending (which we needed after being so tight in Mexico). We started looking into moving out of the apartment, into a house and buying a truck for Bruce. By the end of the year everything fell into place. We found a cute little house very close to CFA, we got Bruce a truck without going into debt and we had found out we were pregnant for the very first time.

Our first house!

The beater truck

Baby on the way!

In December my parents came over to visit, they stayed at our house during Christmas while we went to New York! That trip was kind of bittersweet because my parents were in our new house and we were away. It felt wrong but we had a good time together. When we came back we celebrated both Christmas and New Year together with my parents, it was a blessed time!

New York, New York

Celebrating!

After that one of the most difficult times of our life began. When the year started we had no idea what awaited us. On January 7th we miscarried our first baby. It was one of the most painful experiences ever. It is sweet though to remember how my husband held my hand through it all, it brought us closer together. Shortly after in March we found out we were pregnant again, it hadn't sinked in yet when we miscarried again. It was heartbreaking, it made us question God a lot and even give up on the idea of having a baby for a while. It took us a couple of months to get back on our feet and even desire to keep trying. We weren't doing anything to avoid getting pregnant but we weren't actively trying either. Not until around July I think. It didn't happen for a couple of months. In September I decided to quit working at the Consulate. At the end of the month I suspected something was a bit off so I took a HPT: negative, oh well. A week went by and I still thought something was not normal, I took another HPT: POSITIVE! Our hearts were overjoyed. Now the waiting, waiting and praying this little one would stick, every cramp was a scare, thank God I didn't spot till week 12 I was still scared but the ultrasound kept showing a strong heartbeat as well as his intestins and liver being ourside. Another journey began, a journey of prayer, faith, and tears. This particular journey is not over yet, more on that in another post. I am currently 31 weeks pregnant, we are very excited as the day when we will meet our little boy approaches!

Our little cutie!

Growing!

That on the baby front.

At the end of October I stopped working at the Consulate to start my own business and a full time housewife. During the months and now years that Bruce has being working at CFA he's grown and advanced, now he is a manager and his income has doubled from the one he started with. He does a wonderful job planning and executing Family Nights and I love that I can come help him! His boss loves him and his bosse's family has adopted us, they are such a blessing!

In November 2011 we went to Miami to my friend Zully's wedding and on our babymoon.

Fishing!

We spent Christmas at home just the two of us, a very beautiful time just bonding and creating memories!

Our feast!

By the end of the year we had to move ones more and we found an apartment close to our old house, it's smaller but we ara making it work! My mom came to visit and help us move, I wouldn't have been able to pull it off without her.

Welcome to our new home!

This year we started house hunting and we're waiting to hear about an offer we put in on a house in February. I'm loving being a full time housewife, and teaching Spanish and English! It's been a hard last year and a half but it has only made us grow. It has been wonderful to have Bruce by my side every step of the way and I wouldn't have it any other way. He is the best for me and I love him more than I ever thought I could love anyone.

Current family picture to follow, hopefully soon!

3 years into it... Part 1

Today is our 3rd year anniversary and to celebrate I want to do some reminiscing. Bruce and I were talking this morning and agreed on how fast time has gone by. It doesn't really feel like 3 years but at the same time we've shared so many things I think they are worth writing before we forget.

This is how it started:

You may kiss your bride!

Then off to our honeymoon, we spent a week in Cancun relaxing, enjoying and well you know doing what one does in a honeymoon ;):

Honeymooners dinner

In Jan 2009 Bruce had moved to Mexico City (where I was going to college) so we could get married. We found a tiny 1 bedroom apartment at walking distance from my school and really cheap. That was our very first home. We have so many memories of that little place, unfortunately we seem to have lost all the pictures. While living in that apt we added a member to our family, our ever faithful Booger:

He's brought lots chaos to our life but we love him!

We had our first Thanksgiving together which was a surprise for him, it was a good time:

First time carving the turkey as the
ma of the house!

 In December I graduated:

Cheers, with my college girls!

A couple of days later we got on a plane with 2 bags, 2 carry-ons, 2 personal items, and a dog on our way to California to spend the Holidays:

Happy Holidays 2009!

We spent the rest of the year in Cali and mid January we packed everything we owned in  the car God through my MIL blessed us with a we where on our way to Albuquerque, NM so I could do an internship at the Mexican Consulate here:

Yes, everything we owned fit in that little car!

Our first home in ABQ was a hotel room or 3. It didn't take us long to find a 1 bedroom apartment that we could afford which felt pretty big at the time:

No furniture at all!

 We filled it little by little and we barely spent any money in the process. God has always been faithful!:

The office

The diningroom

The entertainment center

In March, almost simultaneously I started my internship and Bruce found a job at what would become one of the bigget blessings in our life:

A very wonderful place!

This is how our family looked like in our first aniversary:

Cute little family

This will continue tomorrow...

Fearfully and wonderfully made

When we were about 11 or 12 weeks pregnant I started spotting, I freaked out a bit and on my next appointment (around week 13) the doctor ordered an ultrasound just to make sure everything was ok. At the ultrasound there was baby perfect, beautiful, moving and with a heart beating away! I couldn't hold my tears in, it was beautiful!

isn't he gorgeous?

The technician went out to get the doctor and they found that it seemed like there was something going on. They sent us across the hall to the specialist, who performed another ultrasound. What was said at that time: baby's guts seem to be outside when they are supposed to be in by now. It was still early so they scheduled another ultrasound for 16 weeks.

We were not sure what to think, we cried, we prayed, we talked to friends and sought counsel. Doctors even mentioned terminating the pregnancy as an option, it made me sick! They also mentioned the amniocentesis test, we refused cuz there's a risk of miscarriage, not taking any chances! We started praying for a miracle!

A couple of weeks ago we went in for the 16 week ultrasound, not much progress. Baby's guts are still out, they cannot tell much yet we have to wait again. All that was said did not matter all I saw on that ultrasound was a perfect, precious baby, MY baby. The baby we LOVE with no condition, the one God sent for us to love, protect and welcome into our family. A marvelous blessing that put a big smile on my face every time I see him!

Perfect!

Ever since this journey started God has been faithful on filling me/us with His perfect peace. We and everybody around us are believing in a miracle. Believing that baby will be born perfect, with no need of surgery or a stay at the hospital. We trust that we will be able to bring him home with us after his birth. We believe and our hope is on the Lord! Now don't get me wrong that doesn't mean we're not scared. But God's sweet word keep coming to my mind and heart:

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.
¹⁷ How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
How vast is the sum of them!
¹⁸ Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand—
when I awake, I am still with you.

Psalm 139

Our baby is fearfully and wonderfully made, because God's works are wonderful. We are in awe for His faithfulness and can't wait to see what He has in store for us and for our little one!

If you read me please join us in prayer!

God is able!

The first of the year

2012 started at full speed. The main event: a non expected or planned move! Moving is always a huge amount of work, from finding a new place to packing the small stuff to moving the big furniture it is a crazy process. This particular move was more than physically tiring it was emotionally draining.

As I told you here we found out we had to move mid-November. We were not ready for it, we were not expecting it and most of all we DID NOT want to move. We've been looking into buying but have not been ready and we had such a great deal at that house: price, location, and space. It was hard to wrap our heads around the fact that we had to move. We tried everything to stay there but it is not what God has for us anymore and you know how that goes.

We looked for weeks. Places were to small, too far, too expensive, too inconvenient or they wouldn't accept Booger and we are not about to part with him, he is such an important part of our family! We got tired, discouraged, and angry. We decided to take a break for the Holidays and resume our look after New Year, when we did Bruce found a little place right up the street from where we used to live.

We went to see it, he loved it, we applied for it and the next day we had a new place to live. It wasn't that easy for me though. You see I want a three bedroom house, with a yard and enough room to fit all our stuff. Is that too much to ask? Well apparently there's more important things that I need to learn and that God wants to take care of. I threw my fit but we had already gone through the application process and to tell the truth we did not have more time to be looking, we had a lot to do and not enough time.

I was really worried that our furniture would not fit in the smaller apartment. I had a bad attitude about the whole situation and I gave Bruce a hard time! He, as usual, confronted me, listened to me, forgave me and loved me unconditionally. He does such a good job at representing Jesus in my life, I love my man. Anyway, to make an already long story not so long everything fit and I love it! I was reminded of God's care for us (we can move any time as long as we give a 30 day notice which works perfect for our plans to buy, might be sooner than we think!). I was reminded that is not the building or its size that make a home it's the people that share live with me(as long as I get to wake up to my hot man, a growing belly and a happy dog I am home!). God touched my heart by sending my mom to help us with the move and bless us with stuff we have been wanting for a while (I would have never been able to pull off all the cleaning/moving/settling by myself, specially because I get so tired and there's a lot of heavy duty work that needed to be done). All these goodness out of one move! How do I ever second guess God's moves? There another lesson! He never stops amazing me!

Now the pictures, not that you care too much but this is sort of my family's diary.

New home

Welcome to our love nest

The kitchen with the island my love got for me

The zebra moved into the office
side of the kitchen, hey I needed
to make it work!

The office on the other side of the kitchen

Livingroom and the awesome rug mom got for us!

Dinning room, so happy it fit outside of the kitchen

Panrty and Booger's food station

Guest bathroom, my decor fits!

Bruce did a great job picking the curtain

The bookshelf we transformed

Our bed fit beautifully!

The fish had to go in our room, bye bye tv,
it will be good for us!

Cool looking master bathroom, love it!

Have I mentioned how much I love making a house feel like our home? I think it worked out pretty good and no matter how long we live here we will be comfortable and happy because we have each other! What a crazy time and how many valuable lessons!

Happy 2012!

Before the year ends

Wow it has been very long since I posted! I guess I don't have a good excuse other than my days just fly by. I can't say I'm too busy because really I'm not, however a lot has been going on. I'll have to use bullet style to fit everything into one post but I am sure I will love to come back and read this and see how far God has taken us. So here we go:

- Late October we found out that in June 2012 we will be welcoming our first born into our family! It's been one crazy ride full of  joy, doubt, worry, trust, disbelief, growth, and so much love. Since then we've been able to see and hear baby twice and it has been one of the most amazing experiences in life. I'm sporting a cute lil bump now and can't wait to find out if it's a boy or a girl so I can start calling baby by name! Just a couple more weeks till we find out!

So in love!



- I quit my job and started my own English/Spanish translation business. It's had a slow start but it's going. I am an interpreter but now that I've been having some time to make some crafts I'm thinking about maybe using my creativity to make some money. I think I can do both at the same time we'll see how it goes. Right now I've been focused on enjoying the Holidays, finding us a place to live, packing and looking forward to getting settled in our new place, which brings us to the next point.

 

The business

- In November we took a trip to Miami for my good friend's wedding, we had a very good time and it was kind of our babymoon. When we got back home a letter from the company we're leasing was waiting for us in the mail. The letter was to inform us that they would not be renewing our contract and that we had to move by the end of December. We really love the house but apparently the owner wants to sell and we just can't pay what she's asking for it. Anyway, we've had a hard time finding another place because we really got spoiled with this one but today we finally signed a contract for our new home at least for the next year. We're hoping to be able to buy next year, we'll see what happens! For now we're happy that we have a new home that is still close to Bruce's job and in the side of town that we love. God is faithful!

 

bye, bye house

 

- Both our cars broke down during the same week. We sold Bruce's truck for 200 bucks cuz there was no point on trying to fix it and he fixed mine so we're back to being a one-car family for now but hopefully soon we'll get a second car. The savings on the insurance policy and gas are sweet though!

 

Bye, bye truck

 

That's what the last months of 2011 have brought our way. We are thankful because we are ending our year in a much better note than we started it, we know that God is good no matter what and we are thankful for a year in which He turned our mourning into dancing.

 

You have turned for me my mourning into dancing: you have put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness.   

Psalm 30:11

 

Thank you Jesus!

Pinterest inspires me

Ever since I discovered Pinterest I became an addict. Seriously I spend a lot of time there and it has turned out to be an amazing source of inspiration. Good thing Bruce thinks it's a good thing for me even when it's costing us some money, but hey all good thing cost, right? right?

Anyway, so I saw this:

Source

And loved the idea! Halloween is not big at all at home but Thanksgiving and Christmas that's another story. We go all out! We love both holidays and love the idea to have some cute pillow cover made by yours truly. So this is how it went down.

I went to walmart and got this fabric and zippers:

And I went to JoAnn and got these zippers:

At first I thought I would try a different tutorial for the covers but I didn't want to have to spend money for both holidays so I went with this zipper tutorial so I could do what I call "double duty pillow covers". I designed, printed and cut the stensils (I failed to take a picture of those). I traced, sewed and painted my pillow covers and this is the wonderful result!:

The Christmas ones still need some work but I am
still to figure out what to do to them. I have time.

So this os how Pinterest inspired me to make something unique, thrifty and cool looking. I love my new addiction!

Loooong weekend, finally!

I've worked the past two Saturdays so I am really looking forward to getting this long weekend started. I have a few plans and projects that are exciting!

• My long weekend starts today at 2pm, I'm getting off work early! I plan to run a few errands and start working on a project for my husband is kind of a surprise and I am stocked!
• We finally finished a project we've been working on together for the living room. We had a vertical bookshelf and we decided to give it a face lift and use it differently. I love the result so much that it deserves a post of its own but I have to get some decent pictures first.
• I am in the process of making some fall decorations hopefully I will be able to finish them this weekend and have a fall-y house by Tuesday!
• I am quiting my job at the end of this month. I'm so excited! I am starting my own business and I am very nervous too. I'm working on my web page and my cousin is helping me design my logo and stuff it is Ah.mazing! Can't wait to spend more time at home and getting mu business going! Yaaaay!
• Since Bruce started school we haven't had much time off at the same time but it looks like this weekend we'll be able to spend some time together. That man makes my heart skip a beat!
• Monday I'm going bowling with Miss Laura, can't wait! I'm sure we will have a blast!

Life is good, happy Columbus' day weekend!