A major update

Here I am today at week 29:

Time goes so fast! Evelynn Kay Anderson will be here in less than 3 months (Lord willing, after September 1st when we have insurance!) Yes, that's right, the ultrasound revealed that we are having a little girl. YAHOO! That was our secret hope but we were okay with either. The ultrasound tech was confident and apparently got a pretty good view of what he needed to see. The best part? We got to see her in 3D, which was so incredible. I can't wait to hold my little girl.

God answered my prayers abundantly and everything looked great with the ultrasound as they went through and checked everything. Also, all of my extra blood tests they ran on me came back completely normal, so I won't be needing to go back to the specialist at all, which was a MAJOR relief. God continues to challenge me and Dan to trust Him with all of the details.

Finding out that all my blood tests were normal made our first anniversary weekend all the sweeter. Dan and I headed over to Sisters, Oregon to hike, shop, and stay at the Long Hollow Ranch, a bed and breakfast. It was a fabulous weekend, and the weather was so beautiful. If you know anything about me and my love of horses, it'll make sense that I can't wait to go back to the ranch next year so we can take a trail ride (which I didn't particularly want to risk at that time, being 7 months pregnant). They have 550 acres, which back up to 10,000 acres of BLM Land, so there's lots of space to explore. Here's a view of the ranch:

And the 100+ year old building we stayed in:

The next weekend Dan and I had the privilege in being in Jon and Rachel Bever's wedding. We were a 3-for-2 deal with baby Evelynn on board. It was a great wedding and the church provided a fabulous meal for their reception. God bless organized brides - they make everything so much better!



That's an update on our lives... I am looking forward to seeing what else God has in store for us this summer!

Stephanie

Busy May

I've always loved summer months, but May is fast becoming one of my favorite months. It's hard to believe, but in 2 weeks Dan and I will celebrate our first anniversary! We are going to head over to lovely Sisters, Oregon that weekend - a place we both really like but haven't had much opportunity to explore. It really is incredible how fast time has gone now that we're married. A year ago I was anticipating my wedding... now I am anticipating a baby!

Speaking of baby, this coming Monday is our ultrasound. I am both extremely excited and in typical Stephanie fashion, also a bit nervous. After we have the ultrasound, we are seeing the "high risk" OB-GYN about the false positive on one of my blood tests. I'm praying that the ultrasound is pure FUN for us and that the cost of the whole appointment doesn't kill us (I can't WAIT until we have insurance...) I hope that baby Anderson cooperates so we can see if we should be buying pink clothes or blue ones.

Also coming up this month... we're in the wedding of our friends Jon and Rachel. Yes, I will be the token pregnant bridesmaid, but it should be a lot of fun.

Pictures and news about all of these things to come...

Stephanie

Six months and counting

Today is November 24, and that means that officially Dan and I have been married for six months. I was told by a newly married friend that time goes fast when you're married, and wow, was she right. I'm afraid of waking up one day and finding that I'm forty! I think life is better right now than it has ever been, and I don't want to miss a minute of it. Married life is SO much better than dating!

I'm going to attempt to write a short tribute to the last six months. Since it's now 5:50 in the morning, I'm not sure whether it will turn out way too mushy or just plain ridiculous. Read at your own risk!

Favorite wedding day moment: It's a toss up, so I'll pick three. First, seeing him for the first time, me in my wedding dress, him looking oh-so-handsome in his tux. Second, saying my vows to Dan and seeing his reaction. Fun stuff. Third, our kiss after the vows. Dan pulled out all the stops and performed a swoop-your-woman-up-in-your-arms-and-smooth-her number, I think much to our pastor's amusement or horror, I'm not sure which. It was great.

Worst wedding moment: There's not much to work with here, but I'll say our rehearsal. It was a zoo and made me think that our wedding might turn out to be a freak show (it wasn't.) We were both frustrated because everyone had opinions about everything, and we were even told we couldn't run (walk briskly?) back down the aisle when we were pronounced husband and wife. We did anyway once we were married. :)

Best married traditions: Mugs of hot cocoa on Saturday mornings. Yum. The off-to-work kisses in the morning and the honey-I'm-home kisses at night. Friday night dates, which sometimes are as simple as going to work out together or watching a movie at home and eating popcorn. The point is being together, not how fancy the date is.

What we're most thankful for in the past six months: Our church. Honestly, I don't know what we would have done without Cornerstone. We've met so many awesome people and have wholeheartedly enjoyed getting plugged in there. God is so good.

Most annoying habits discovered: When you've dated for 3 1/2 years, we had hoped there wouldn't be too many surprises in store as far as this goes. I did discover pretty early on that Dan apparently took pains to remove each and every sock from his foot inside out and left them that way to go through the wash. Solution: he realized his socks were never clean going through the washer like that, and mended his ways. Dan discovered fairly early on that I had the charming habit of squeezing the toothpaste from the top instead of the bottom (I know, classically annoying, huh?) Solution: separate toothpaste tubes. I guess also qualify for more annoying habits, mainly rolling onto his side of the bed at night and pushing him to the very edge, and stealing all the covers.

Worst married moment: It's probably every Tuesday, when we get up at 5 a.m. to get Dan to work by 6 a.m. We just don't talk while we're getting ready. My body is always very clever and helpful on Monday nights and makes sure I sleep the worst on these nights. So making a sandwich in the morning becomes a colossal challenge (although I think Dan tried to put a box of cereal in the refrigerator one morning, so I suppose I'm not alone). I have to be honest and say there have been no dramatic fights. Sure, we have our moments when we get frustrated with each other, but I can't come up with any real winners to share here. We'd like to keep it that way.

Most dramatic married moment: Okay, I'll share something that's rather personal on here. Last month there were a couple weeks where it seemed like a very good possibility that I might be pregnant. It feels silly to share that on a blog, but I share it because I have never been more thankful for my husband or more proud of what the Lord is doing in his life. He showed far more maturity and wisdom and faith than I did in responding to that new thought, and he was a rock for me. And no, it turns out we are NOT expecting, but I think the Lord never wastes an experience on our lives and never fails to use them to show us something new about ourselves.

Thanks, Dan, for a great past six months. I know that despite whatever challenges they may bring, the next six months, and the future beyond, will be a joy and a blessing simply because we are together.

Stephanie

Wedding Pictures Tour

I thought it would be fun to post of my few wedding pictures from our big day. Hey, I figure my parents payed enough for our photographer that we want to get our use out of the pictures! In all seriousness, I just enjoy sharing photos from that day, so for those who care, enjoy. :)

On another note... I had a flip calendar that someone gave me as a gift earlier this year. Each day I flip the calendar and read a quote about everybody's favorite topic - love. Some of them are way too Shakespeare-y or mushy for my taste, but occasionally there's some really thought-provoking ones. Yesterday's that got me thinking was: "To love someone means to see them as God intended them" - Feodor Dostoyevski

I realized that was a very beautiful way of expressing how I want to see each person in my day- as the Lord would have me see them - fully created in His image and precious in His sight, in complete need of His truth and grace. How would that change how I treat them, talk about them, think about them?

Okay, enough contemplating. I'll leave you to enjoy pictures!

My handsome groom, the reason for the whole day!

Fun dessert table our caterer did for us. I had asked her to do some desserts and fruit, but I had no idea it would all turn out like this! I think the fruit bouquets were my favorite.

The view from the balcony during the ceremony.

Some people think it's strange we don't have heads in this photo, but I really like this focus on our hands.

Lovely bridesmaids. Each girl got to choose a slightly different variation on her dress, and I thought they turned out really cute.

Kissing daddy, I really like this one!

Hope ya'll are having a good weekend!

Stephanie