answered

i'm loving this year so far!

first, although difficult to go through, we were able to see my father recover from open heart surgery. it was a huge blessing to find so much support from our church family. you find out who you can lean on when going through a tough time.

second, i completed my first semester of classes at RISD...loved it, loved it, loved it!!

third, nate and i found out we're having a baby!!!!!! woo hoo!!!! once again, we were overwhelmed with the love and support that we received from our church family. we received a wide spectrum of responses from our news...whether it was literal screeches of joy, spontaneous tears, or even peeing your pants a little (your secret is safe, no worries)...it was obvious to us that we were never alone in our journey. you were right there with us, partnering with us through prayer as usual. what a joy to share in answered prayer!!

God is so cool! i mean, after all the things we tried to "make" it happen, He did it in His own time...a very pleasant surprise after being told by doctors that there was almost no chance it would happen without their help...

we disagreed...considering we got pregnant with zachary without their help so we knew it was possible...but we knew it could take a long, long time.

after a baby boom at our church, we concluded to set up another appt with the specialist...the earliest i could make it because of my school schedule was january 28...thankfully, i was able to joyfully cancel that appt.

i don't feel at all like this should have happened 2 years ago or whatever... i really do feel like it happened "on time"...amazing to think that God's timing has brought together the exact chromosomes necessary to give us the exact child destined for us.

i'm 10 weeks today and couldn't be more tired or moody....but i'm soooo thankful to be feeling that again.

pray for us! pray for baby w!!! he/she needs to stay super comfortable for a very long time!

what a month!

january was craaaazy! thus the reason i've been away...

for starters, i made the decision to go back to school. i figure, there's so many things in my life that i can't control...i might as well do something about the things i can....and educating myself and putting myself in a better position career-wise is definitely a step in the right direction of no longer feeling "stuck".

also scheduled for january was my dad's heart catherterization. late in december, dad had a stress test and was diagnosed with coronary heart disease (hereditary....better start keeping my ticker in tip top shape). they told him he needed the catheterization and possibly stents and wanted to do it somewhat immediately, but because of holidays and the family vacationing etc, it ended up being put off for about 2 weeks.

we know that catheterizations and stents are very common procedures....but however common they are, it's still very scary to see someone you love have to go through any kind of heart procedure...i mean, remember....the heart is what pumps life into your body!

turns out, while they were doing the catheterization, they realized they couldn't do the stents...the blockages were too big and he needed a triple bypass...they scheduled it for the next day and we were terrified....terrified, but still trusting God. it's scary to think of all the things that could go wrong....and my mind definitely found itself dwelling on those things....afterall, this is the age my grandfather was when he died of heart complications...all of a sudden, i realized i didn't tell my dad i love him enough...which is weird...because our family practically hugs and kisses and tells each other we love each other even if we're just leaving the room....but somehow, it didn't seem like enough.

my dad seemed at peace with every thing...i guess a point comes when you realize you don't really have control over a situation anyways and you have to just give it up to God and know He's in control...i think this happened for all of us this week.

we ate and ate and ate at the hospital....after hours of waiting in the surgical waiting room, there's really nothing to do besides eat....so eat we did! we happen to be ridiculous fans of cafeteria food. i could actually go for some right now!!

the doctor finally came out and i couldn't understand a word he was saying...his accent was...chinese or korean...not really sure, but he smiled and that's all i cared about....because bad news isn't usually greeted with a smile.

while in surgery, they found a fourth blockage and so they gave him QUADRUPLE BYPASS...holy moly! that's a far stretch from catheterization! we got to see him soon after and....well, that was scary! tubes...eh...i have hospital anxiety anyways!

we are so thankful that the doctors found these blockages before he suffered a major heart attack...which they said was likely and imminent...he may not have recovered from that!

we are also so thankful for prayer...prayer is a privilege...prayer unites us with God and with other believers...prayer has power....power which is almost indefinable...

we are thankful for our family...and not just our immediate family...our a WHOLE family! we belong to a large church and our church really knows how to love....but it extends even beyond our own church....literally, hundreds of people outside of our church were praying for dad...and that's amazing...that's God!

my dad is currently on the mend and trying to take it easy. praise God for His care!

thank you to every one that prayed!

school, hospital visits, work, church and other things mixed in.....what a crazy month full of answered prayer!!!