Quote of the day for Christmas...

... from my wonderful husband. We were all sitting around the table after dinner and my dad was like, "Man, I'm stuffed!" My brother Sam leaned back in his chair with his hands on his belly and said "Gosh me too!" I, on the other hand, had nicely paced myself so I said "Not me. I feel perfect." Cole glanced sideways and grinned at me. "Well you sure look full!"

Haha. Pick on the pregnant woman. I feel the love :)

Claire's room is finally put together, so let's hope that she really is a girl! I don't think a boy would enjoy living in a room like this:

Pics from my Asheville shower!

Thanks to Natalie and Jessica who hosted and made me feel very special!

The food was very good!

And my old roomies came to see me!

Yay for fun gifts!

Mom and other good friends :)

The quilt Sandy Bruns made for Claire - BEAUTIFUL!

Stubborn child!

Today I had another ultrasound to make sure Claire wasn't breech. Consistently she's been in the breech position so my doctor had some worries about why she wasn't moving. But PRAISE THE LORD she moved, so I can hopefully avoid the dreaded C-section!!!

On the other hand, she insists on sitting with her legs crossed so we can't see if she's really a she. Stubborn little baby! I've asked and asked her to move so that I can go ahead and make her room all girly and wash all her clothes, but no. She's "modest" I guess. So I'm keeping all the price tags and receipts handy just in case we're surprised.

Thankful time!

What I am thankful for:
My husband who loves me and encourages me even when I'm grumpy
This little baby inside of me whose constant kicking keeps her on my mind ;-)
Having a job... even if it isn't ideal
My husband's job... which is ideal :)
My parents who raised me well. I think I'm more appreciative now that I'm faced with parenting myself!
My mother-in-law who is always ready to have us over for dinner (our budget thanks you too!)
My comfortable bed
Living so close to family
Friends that stay close even though they are far away
Chocolate!
Beautiful weather
New friendships that have been so long in coming but are so sweet to start
Starbucks Peppermint mochas
My sister-in-law who is the little sister/best friend I always wanted growing up
All the baby gifts that were given to us so we won't have to buy them!
Saturday mornings
Praise songs that move me to tears
Living in the south :)


And yes, the greatest, most undeserved thing I have to be thankful for: a God who loves me, guides me, and gives me far more than I can even realize!


HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Baby Showers!

I've now had all my baby showers and the nursery is actually starting to look like a baby will inhabit it soon! I've got the bedding, the quilts, the swingy-chair thing, the toy box, the dresser, the curtains, and the closet full of accessories. My purple and green room is starting to come along! I've yet to steal the crib from my parents, but I think I'm bringing it home after Thanksgiving. After that, hopefully I'll post some pics so you can all see what Claire's room looks like :). I've started getting a little antsy about finishing up because my friend Eileen had her baby a month early! Needless to say, that got me thinking about being prepared!

Here are some pics from the New Covenant shower a few weeks ago. As soon as I figure out how to work our iMac, I'll get the ones from my Asheville shower up!

They made me lots of chocolate! :)

Tons of gifts!

Claire's bedding

Taylor, Eileen, and I. Eileen had her baby a week after this!

My Alien Body

Here are some of the changes going on with my whacked-out pregnant body at the moment:

*Headaches no longer go away with sleep - they go on forever. Currently I'm boasting of a three day headache.

*I can't make it more than an hour without running to the bathroom.

*Morning sickness may be gone, but car sickness has replaced it! Yay.

*My dreams are getting crazier. I would tell you what they're about, but you might question my salvation....

*Since Claire's growing body is demanding more and more room in the place where my stomach used to be, my body has decided to sacrifice my lungs to find that room. So don't mind my huffing and puffing... I think I'll live...

*On that note: All those stories about pregnant women eating their own meal plus their husband's are FALSE! I make it through about half of what I used to eat before I can't breath anymore.

*On the other hand, I can eat chocolate all day. Huh, funny??? I think so.

*And lastly, my emotions must be getting the better of me already because I easily cry, get mad, or worry for no reason. Poor Cole :)

I have found my love!

And it's the beat-up crock pot that Cal gave me after he discovered Rochelle's was better. It may be a little greasy, small, and not have the temperature dial anymore, but I made the BEST pot roast on Friday and I AM HOOKED! Gone are the days of rushing home from work, throwing a haphazard dinner together, and then running back out the door with our plates in hand. From now on, I will come home to a hot dinner just waiting to be taken out of the pot. Hmmm... the posibilities are endless!

Watch it!!

I love how protective family is. Now that I'm pregnant, they think I'm made of glass and are always telling me to be careful! "You're carrying precious cargo" they say. When I considered doing a sprint triathlon (no expectations, I'm pregnant right???), my mom and grandfather thought I'd lost my mind and weren't easy until I promised to give it up. My dad is constantly getting on to me for lifting things and Cole even gets worried when I get too into group games. I was playing spoons over the summer with my very-aggressive-spoon-playing cousins and every time I lunged for a spoon, I could hear Cole saying, "Julia, Julia, Julia! Please be careful!" :) I love it!

However, no one beats my cousin Sarah Parker! She was one of the first people I told and she is not only super super excited to be an aunt, but she is like a watchdog for my physical well-being. I was with her at a high school football game over the weekend and several times I almost got mowed-over by guys not looking where they were going. But before they could stomp on me, Sarah Parker would yell "Watch it!" and grab me to safety! Then she would proceed to give them a scathing death look! She also kept asking me if I was okay standing up, if I needed to sit down, and if I was hungry or thirsty. It was great :) I love how protective she is in taking care of her prego cousin!


Don't worry, she's not going to eat the baby! She's just crazy excited!

Fall Days! and other things :)

The weather has finally turned cool here!!! And by cool I mean less than 80 degrees :) It's been a wonderful 65-75 for the past few days and I am relishing it! You Asheville friends can't imagine how wonderful it is to walk outside to get the mail without breaking into a sweat.
And speaking of Asheville, I've been especially homesick thinking of the Fall leaves and the colorful mountains! I know of no other city that has such a beautiful fall scene. I want to drive home this weekend and go on a hike or a run or something!
And speaking of running and hiking, this time last year I was training for a half marathon. Hard to imagine considering I can't run a mile right now. I think baby Nickell is taking over my body and using my blood and oxygen entirely for herself!
And speaking of baby Nickell - she finally has a name! That is... if she really is a girl. If a boy pops out I suppose we'll have to apologize for all the pink and purple. Anyway, we've decided on Claire Ann Nickell. Claire has been a favorite of mine since I was born and Ann is a family name on Cole's side. Woo hoo!

I'm A Big Kid Now

So yeah, I did a Facebool survey meant for "Grown-ups". It was 38 questions for people who are a little older and I just did it for amusement. Enjoy!


1. What bill do you hate paying the most? Cars bills, especially when you have to fix stupid things like your windows. Who knew that could cost $330!!!

2. Where was the last place you had a romantic dinner? Well, most of our meals are eat-and-run, but we did have a really nice dinner at Sawadee Thai Restaurant a few weeks ago.

3. What do you really want to be doing right now? I want to be at home sleeping in my bed!

4. How many colleges did you attend? Two: Covenant and AB Tech (woot)

5. Why did you choose the shirt you have on right now? I'm wearing a purple dress from Target. Pants and shirts aren’t comfortable anymore with my pregnant belly :).

6. What are your thoughts on gas prices? They’re not as bad as they have been and I save $0.10 a gallon when I shop at Kroger, so I’m making it okay. And if it gets too bad, Cole and I will start riding our bikes around Aiken again. It’s really quite fun!

7. First thought when the alarm went off this morning? ”Maybe my cold is too bad. Maybe I have a fever. Maybe I can call in sick…” I got up anyway.

8. Last thought before going to sleep last night? ”I am so tired…”

9. Do you miss being a child? I miss college and wish I could go back sometimes, but I’m pretty content with growing up.

10. What errand/chore do you despise? I don’t like grocery shopping. I love cooking, but I wish a fairy could get everything I need and just drop it off at my house.

11. Get up early or sleep in? Sleeping in is AMAZING.

12. Have you found real love yet? OH YES!

13. Favorite lunch meat? Turkey or Roast Beef.

14. What do you get every time you go into Wal-Mart? Bannanas.

15. Beach or lake? I love the lake. No messy sand and I love skiing!

16. Do you think marriage is an outdated ritual? No, and people that think that have commitment issues. Don’t even get me started on what I think about the world’s view of marriage!

17. Sopranos or Desperate Housewives? Neither. I prefer a good movie.

18. What famous person would you like to have dinner with? C.S. Lewis. He is the most amazing writer and Christian apologist.

19. Have you ever crashed your vehicle? Well once I backed into the garage door because I forgot to open it. Nothing big though.

20. Ever had to use a fire extinguisher for its intended purpose? Nope.

21. Ring tone? Something really perky that Verizon made up.

22. Strangest place you have ever brushed your teeth? The woods. Or the Frankfurt, Germany airport.

23. Somewhere in California you've never been and would like to go? Coronado.

24. At this point in your life would you rather start a new career or a new relationship? Definitely a new career… I’m going to be a mom!

26. Do you have a go-to person? Oh yes. My husband or my five closest friends.

27. Are you where you want to be in life? Getting there…

28. Growing up, what were your favorite cartoons? Spiderman :)

29. What about you do you think has changed the most? My standards and values. I feel like I finally know exactly what I believe and can articulate it to others.

30. Looking back at high school were they the best years of your life? Yes and no. I really really enjoyed them, but I wish I’d had a little more maturity.

31. Are there times you still feel like a kid? Oh yes. Most people mistake me for being one of the high schoolers I work with. In fact, I bet most people think I’m a poor knocked-up teenage mother. No one ever bothers to look at my left ring finger ;).

32. Did you ever own troll dolls? Yes, and I actually thought their hair magically grew.

33. Did you have a pager? No. Those are sooooo 90’s.

34. Where was the hang out spot when you were a teenager? Downtown Asheville!

35. Were you the type of kid you would want your children to hang out with? Yes.

36. Who do you think impacted your life the most Cole, without a doubt the best person God ever put in my life!

37. Was there a teacher or authority figure that stood out for you? My pastor Jeff really impacted my high school years and Drs. Davis and Foreman made Covenant amazing.

38. Do you tell stories that start with “when I was your age”? Sometimes. I don’t want to be condescending though. Plus I’m not THAT old!

Ohhhh CC!

This week all the Covenant College students are heading back up the mountain for another year of school. And I am jealous! I've been following facebook and reading everyone's happy comments about being back and seeing people and the nostalgia is hitting me hard! OH if I could just rewind a few years and enjoy that time all over again! College is so wonderful and carefree... no real life 8-5 jobs, no house payments, no huge responsibilities, and you can even skip class if you want to sleep in! Sure, you have the papers and the homework and the occasional huge, overwhelming projects, but that's all part of experience and most of the time you pretty much live a carefree life. THINK about it: you can plan your day so that you don't have to wake up until 11 or 12! You have someone else making all your meals. You live with your best friends. There's always something fun going on. You feel independent but you don't have the whole weight of full responsibility on you yet. Oh man, college was good.
Here are a few pics to illustrate my college experience:

Well, we did party some...

And we played some...

We goofed around a lot...

Oh yeah, and we studied...

But we had to take breaks so we wouldn't shoot ourselves...

We ate a lot...

So then we worked out a lot...

But over all, I made the best friends in the world...

And I finally graduated...

Go CC!!!!!!!!!!!!!

p.s.

Just in case you read this, that post was for you Mrs Bruns and I will put up pics soon!

Being Pregnant Motivates Me...

And I'm serious. There's nothing like knowing that a baby's on the way to get me off my rear and doing things to prepare. For instance, since I've been pregnant I've/we've painted two rooms, ripped up the carpet in our living room/dining room, cleaned out a huge closet full of technological stuff and pieces of paper from Cole's schooling (oh yeah, we had fun... not), cleaned the baby's room-to-be, rearranged and de-cluttered our room, and are in the process of putting down hardwood floors. After that I will actually get to decorating the baby's room. We've also started talking about making a will (weird!) and setting up a college fund for baby Nickell. Not to mention lots of serious talks about what kind of parents we want to be. Knowing that a little one will be here in five months really makes me think. Wow!

Soon to come: I'll put up the pictures of all our projects once we have the "after pics".

Oh beach...

So due to the lack of creative juices lately, I haven't posted anything in a while. I think two weeks of vacation zapped my energy and turned me into a slug :) You know how you always think that you'll get books read, letters written, and be all rejuvenated to come back to regular life? Yeah well, usually you end up sleeping in late, sitting around waiting for something to do, watching tv or movies, and generally not exerting much effort. So then you get back to the daily grind and you're completely exhausted with "doing nothing" and totally not ready to get up at 6:45 and work all day. Yeah, I want to go back to the beach...

The Sand Lobster!

Handstand competition

The Marshall/Johnson cousins minus 5

P.S. I can't make these pics larger without loosing the quality.

VACATION!

After coming back from Miami and working one week, I'm off the beach for TWO WEEKS! Wahoo! Aren't you jealous? :)

Brain Dead

So I thought I would come back from Miami with all these funny stories and witty comments, but I think I've gone brain dead in the creative department. I only have four things to say:
1) It was hot. I think I lost 10 pounds in sweat.
2) I hate Florida. And it should never under any circumstance be called southern.
3) I love Haitians - they are so friendly and hospitable.
4) Do tha stanky leg!

How I've missed this....

Yesterday I arrived in Chattanooga to spend a couple days with Carolann before picking up some youth girls to drive them to Miami for the mission trip. I only get to see CA about every 5 or 6 months and I know that once we have kids and life gets busier, that will probably decrease a lot. So sad, but that's life. Anyway, last night the two of us and Nicole ate dinner at Tony's where we stuffed ourselves till we all felt pregnant with food babies, then walked accross the Market Street Bridge where we were almost run over by a crazy person, and lastly stopped and ate some icecream that we really didn't need but really enjoyed. It was SO much fun and we just talked and laughed the whole night. This is one thing I have really missed living in Aiken. While I love it and love my life there, I still haven't made deep friendships like the ones I had in college. When I'm sad or extremely happy or just need someone to talk to, I still call Carolann or a friend from Asheville instead of being able to sit down with someone in Aiken. Friendships just take more time now than they did in highschool and college and I miss those connections.
So, I am going to enjoy every minute of my time with CA! I wonder what whacky plans we have for today...

See ya!

I'm off to Miami for our High School summer mission trip! Pray that I won't get overheated or gag on my food too much while there :) Of course, I can always play the pregnant woman card and opt out of anything too strenuous. Haha!

Yay morning sickness!

Since Danielle suggested that I keep people up to date on my little bun in the oven, I thought I'd would inform you all of the recent nausea I've experienced thanks to this little one. First of all, whoever named it morning sickness must have had a very rare and easy pregnancy or have been a man. It doesn't just take over your morning, oh no, it comes back again right after lunch and again as you try to wind down for the night. Basically I don't know how women gain weight in the first trimester because the nausea always seems to come about 20-30 minutes after I've eaten. This means rather than just throwing up a polite little amount, I throw up my entire breakfast, lunch, or dinner. My poor husband tries to offer comfort but I just shoo him out because it's rather embarrissing. I mean, I haven't been this sick since I was a little kid with a stomach virus! Anyway, enough of that. I feel sorry for any men reading this :)

Foods that make my gag reflex kick in:
Any cooked vegitable
Most veggies in general (I'm gagging down cucumber slices as I type)
Mushy fruits like bannanas or cantalope
The smell of cooking meat! Ugh!!
Coffee - surprise surprise, who'd have ever thought!
Cookie dough :( so sad
The smell, but not taste, of Chickfila
Lots of other things depending on the day

So here's to you who can eat a well-balanced diet without gagging. Meanwhile I'll enjoy my pasta, pizza, icecream, and crackers!

Lonely, I am so lonely, I have nobody...

This week Cole is in Atlanta with the kids for Gold Rush, a youth conference, and so I'm home all along, sad and bored. I really hate it when he leaves. It's fun for about the first hour, then I realize that I could never make it living alone.
The first night as I got home from work I had all these good intentions of cleaning and organizing things, but rather than being productive I decided to turn on the tv for "just a minute" as I ate my ordered out pizza (yeah, I'm lame) and ended up getting sucked in for the next three hours! Which just made me mad at myself and even more lonely once I turned the tv off and was by myself with the silence. I tried to call Cole around 10:30 but he didn't answer. So I tried again at 11 and then gave up, figuring he was still out with the students.
As I tried to fall asleep while feeling sorry for myself, I kept hearing these thumping sounds like sounded like someone was knocking on the door! I tried to ignore it, but right as I would start to doze, I would hear it again. Now, I confess, I am a scaredy-cat and I can no longer watch even slightly scary movies because of how much they affect me. (I've been known to get mad and hide behind the couch if Cole doesn't turn off horror movie previws fast enough and I jump if he comes up behind me without saying anything.) So as I lay there, I thought to myself, "No worry. Cole just bought that new gun and it's loaded in the safe. I'll be fine." And then, "Maybe I'll just check the safe and make sure." So I rolled over and reached out to hit the combination on the safe. And guess what... it didn't open. I tried again, making sure I entered the right combination. Nope, still didn't open. So I'm laying there thinking, "Great, someone's knocking on the door at 11 at night, I'm home alone, and the gun my husband bought for moments like this is stuck in our new safe! Wonderful."

Baby OH Baby!

Guess who's pregnant?!?! ME!!!!!!!!!!

I wasn't exactly expecting it, so I bungled my way to finding out and went two weeks thinking I was definitely NOT pregnant, but surprise, surprise - I am :) What happened was I went off birth control knowing that we wanted to get pregnant in a few months and thinking that it might take awhile for that to happen (so I heard...). When I started noticing that I wasn't "regular" (you know what I mean) I thought, hmmm, I must be one of those people that needs a few months to get their cycle back on track again. Then I also noticed that I was dizzy sometimes in the early morning, my chest was tender constantly, and I got out of breath easily. So I bought a First Response pregnancy test. It said that one pink line meant no, two pink lines meant yes. So I took and it came back with one bold pink line and one teeny tiny almost-impossible-to-see line. So I thought, "not pregnant." When I still wasn't back to normal a week later, I took another one. Same thing. One bold line.

Then that week my brother and sister-in-law came to visit with their baby and I shared with Rochelle that we wanted to get pregnant but "couldn't" because my cycle was messed up. She gave me a hard time about already being pregnant, but I said no way, I had checked. It got me thinking though that maybe the test I took was defective, so I went back to Walmart and bought the Clear Blue digital kind (it was more expensive which is why I didn't get it in the first place.) That night (Thursday May 29th) I took the test and it said PREGNANT! Cole and I both started yelling with excitement! But wait - what if this one was defective and the other ones weren't??? So, I took the second Clear Blue test and we held our breath as we waited for the outcome. PREGNANT!!!

So gosh, there we were with two that said not pregnant and two that said pregnant. One more test to try. I had one of the First Reponse ones left over, so I said "Alright Cole, this one determines the truth." I took this last test, praying for it to say pregnant, but once again it came back with one bold pink line and one teeny tiny almost-impossible-to-see line. I showed it to Cole, all disappointed, and he started laughing at me! He was like "Julia, it doesn't matter how big or small the lines are! You've been pregnant the whole time! You're five for five!" So yep, turns out that the test tries to trick you.

The next day my doctor reassured me that I was indeed expecting and that I was actually six and a half weeks along! Woo hoo! Since then, I've seen several advertisements for the Clear Blue pregnancy test which start out with, "Did you know that 1 in 4 women misread their first pregnancy test?" Why yes, I do in fact. Be clear. Choose Clear Blue. :)

Being grateful

I guess I've got a confession to make - I'm a really discontent person. I struggle with being grateful for the good things in life and I tend to dwell on the bad. Like right now I'm struggling to be content in my job. It's not a bad job and the people I work with are wonderful... it's just that it's totally out of my area of interest, talent, or gifts. I was an English major in college because I loved to read and write. My job now is with an asset managing and financial planning company - totally not my cup of tea. Going in to it I thought that I would learn quickly and adjust well, but that has not happened and everyday I feel lost and insignificant in what I do. I'm jealous of my husband because he LOVES his job and gets satisfaction out of it almost every day. I on the other hand come home every day tired and frustrated because I'm in a world in which I don't fit. So what do I do? I complain. I whine. I think about quitting because I'm sure that the grass is greener somewhere else. Yeah right. I know that I need to be content where I am RIGHT NOW or I will always find something I don't like. So I guess this is a sermon to myself to be grateful for a) having a job in this economy, b) earning a good amount of money that will help us later on, and c) having the opportunity to expand my horizons by learning something new.

Mother's Day

I love mother's day and hopefully one day I can celebrate it personally! In the meantime, I enjoy celebrating the great moms around me!

One of my friends just found out she's pregnant and it was so much fun to wish her a happy mother's day, even though I still can't even tell she's expecting. I imagine the world wouldn't call her a mother yet, but because I believe that life begins at conception, I wanted to make sure I congratulated her on being a mom to that tiny life inside of her.

I didn't think I would be able to see my own mom on Sunday, but when I found out that she, my dad, and my little brothers were going to visit my grandparents at the lake an hour away, I decided to surprise her. So after making lunch and celebrating with my mother-in-law and their family, I jumped in the car with my sister-in-law while my sweet husband stayed behind and cleaned up for me :) When we got there I snuck around back where everyone was sitting in the gazebo and yelled "SURPRISE!" It was a lot of fun to see their faces and I think it meant a lot to my mom. We spent the rest of the day swimming, jet-skiing, and catching up... it was wonderful.

I am so thankful for the three mothers in my life: my mom, grandmother, and mother-in-law. They are all special women who support me, love me, and show me what a joy life is.

(The pics are of my and mom andthen my mother-in-law, sis-in-law and me.)