Beach Vaca

A few weeks ago, the hubs and I enjoyed a much needed little vacation in Florida. We're generally more of a "city folk" than "beach people," but we wanted to relax after our first half of 2012, and we had a great time doing that on the coast.

P.S. Please excuse all of the very amature photo editing. I was having fun on my software. :)

The sand was white, and the water was clear. We spent most of the week reading and/or napping on the beach. It.was.wonderful. (Except for the severe sunburn that came from all that reading and/or napping on the beach, but shh.) 

I may or may not have gotten burned badly enough that Brad had to go buy me a souvenir t-shirt to wear instead of the tank tops I packed, just so that I could leave our hotel room.

But it was totally worth it, because he surprised me with a horseback ride on the beach!

Our last day there, we went snorkeling together and saw all kinds of cool water creatures! Sadly, we could not keep them. However, I did steal a few of Florida's finest sea shells!

And, yes, I am wearing a super cool, emergency purchased, surfer girl shirt in order to protect my roasted skin and still be able to get in the water. I was just that awesome.

I believe this is the first appearance of B's finished tattoo on my blog. It makes him look even more B-A, huh? Combined with the aviators... Humina, humina. (Or is that just me?)

Anyway, all sun poisoning aside, we had a really great time hanging out together on the ocean. We're just going to keep on planning and enjoying "babymoons" until that's what one actually is! However, with my fair complexion, the next one may be in the forest!

Happy Father's Day

I've always loved and appreciated my dad very much, but after the events of the last few months, I'm even more grateful for him than I was before! So, in honor of this special day, I'd like to post my absolute favorite picture of my dad and me as he walked me down the aisle on my wedding day.

I love you, Daddy! I'm so glad I get to be your (favorite) only daughter! Thank you for everything that you've always been to me! I can't express how glad I am that you're in my life. I love you very much, and I hope you have a fabulously Happy Father's Day! Mwa!!

Welcome to the world, Hannah Faith!

Hannah is here!!!

Kris, Emily, and big sister Layla welcomed Hannah Faith into their family at 7:46 AM, June 13, 2012. Hannah weighs 7 lbs, 13 oz and is 19 inches long. Everybody is doing very well. And I just know that Layla is going to be such a great big sister!

With the addition of this sweet bundle of joy, that makes a whopping FOUR baby girls on Hill Ridge, ages two and under! And technically, Charlie just turned two last month, and Layla doesn't have her birthday until September, so that milestone hardly even counts! 

Please join us in prayers of joy and thanksgiving for a healthy baby and a successful delivery. Praise God for His many wonderful blessings, and especially for precious little girls! ♥

Seven Years is Legit

We may not have looked that legit back on June 11, 2005. But now, we're the real deal.

Today marks the end of my seventh year as Brad's wife. I love this picture of us acting silly on our wedding day; the first day of my life as a Mrs. to my Mr. I'm starting to look back at our wedding photos and think, "Man, we were just babies!" At the time we thought 21 was sooooo grown up! Ha.

I'm finally beginning to feel like we've been married a long time. Up until recently, I was like, "Oh, we're still newlyweds! We just got married! It seems like only yesterday!" Now, I think, "Wow, we've really been married a long time. Seven years is kind of a big deal. We have accumulated a lot of history and experience as a married couple. We've grown up a lot together over the course of this totally legit marriage."

I thought I might feel sad when the "honeymoon phase" was over, but I actually think I like this part even better. It's real. I know it's real. I'm not worried about what it'll be like when the fantasy is grounded. I trust myself as a wife, and I'm not always wondering what kind of wife I am or want to be and how to be that. And I trust Brad as a husband; trust him to know how to put our marriage first, to treat me in a way that would make our parents proud, and to strive to be the husband God expects him to be. We really have learned a lot together; about ourselves, about each other, about life and finances and responsibilities and friendships and compromises and adulthood and love. I know we'll continue learning various lessons as the years go on. I can't wait to learn how to be a mama to his many precious babies as he masters the art of being an incredible daddy. Hopefully, the eighth year will also be the year we add parenthood to our marriage cocktail. Only God knows that at this point.

Anyway... (Sorry. My brain seems to always find a way to back to babies, right now.)

I feel very blessed to have been able to spend the last seven years as Brad's wife. I'm honored that he chose me to be his One. I'm happy that the dork I fell in love with in high school remains the handsome stud I continue to love today. ...Even more than I ever thought possible back in the day when he held my hand outside my locker.

Love you, B. A whole lot. Happy 7th anniversary, my sweet boy.

Let's get reacquainted.

[image source]

So, you know how when you haven't talked with somebody for a super long time, you just can't wait to get the opportunity to catch up with each other? And over that long period of time, you constantly thought of things you'll need to remember to discuss when you finally get the chance? And how you think that the reuniting conversation will be hours upon hours of filling one another in on each of your lives? But then, you know how when you do actually see each other or make that phone call, the chat session falls quickly short because you both realize you don't know what's going on in each other's lives anymore, so you don't even know where to start? You both say the typical "I'm good. Family is great. Work is the usual. Everything's about the same." because there are simply so many missing details that it's difficult to find that common ground again.

Well, that's how I've felt with this blog lately. It has literally been months since I visited, and nearly half a year since I truly posted anything with effort and substance. I've kept on thinking, "Man, I really need to blog again!" But every time I got the chance, I have felt like I somehow forgot how to do it. I have simultaneously felt overwhelmed by the sheer amount of the "catching up" I need to do, and underwhelmed by the lack of truly interesting things to talk about.

But I've missed all of you and this aspect of my life so much over the last few months, that I just can't bear the thought of this awkward silence lasting any longer. It is time to break the ice. So, please, let's get reacquainted.

Hi! How are you? How has your year been? Have you enjoyed your summer, so far?

Let me go ahead and fill you in on what updates 2012 has brought me.

First, I was initially distracted early on with my typical busy season at work, which always pulls my attention away from here, so that was not unusual. However, overlapping with tax season was a major family emergency back in March. If you are friends with me on facebook, I'm sure you know from my weekly, sometimes daily updates that my dad was involved in a severe motorcycle accident on his way to work one Monday (the 19h to be exact). At that point, the rest of my world either fell to the back burner or stopped altogether. Brad and I dropped everything and drove to Indiana. I don't want to get into too many details, just because it's so much, but basically he broke part of his back, a few ribs, his cheek bone and bruised his lungs in addition to some superficial scratches and bruises. Thank the Lord that he survived the accident and was not paralyzed at all. (Hallelujah!!) But, it's been a long couple of months since then.

Dad's closest companions for weeks.

He was dependent on a ventilator, feeding tube, and heavy sedatives for over a month, as he remained in a coma-like state. Virtually the entire family stayed there the whole first week while his survival was still in question and as he endured various reconstructive surgeries. I returned to work and tax season the following week while Brad stayed for another week to be with him in the hospital. Since then, Brad and I have travelled to Indiana every weekend to visit. After a month, and conveniently right after the tax deadline, our visits became more productive as Dad finally began to wake up. I stayed another week with him as he was weened off the ventilator and sedatives and started to interact, drink then eat, sit up and even walk again. Shortly after that, he was moved to a rehab facility and transitioned into being more mobile and independent.

I am very pleased to say that God has been healing him at such a rate, that Dad is now back home!! He is slow and sore, but mostly just very, very blessed! :)

Needless to say, it has been a looooong few months for my entire family. Brad and I are about to enjoy only our second weekend home since the accident, which is why I'm just now beginning to feel like my life is calming back down. In fact, this weekend, my hubby and I are experiencing Nashville in its truest form at the CMA Fest! Holla! We went to the first night last night, and can't wait to hear all of the other great country acts throughout the weekend!

Sitting waaaay up high in the stands of LP Field!

In other update-news, we still aren't pregnant, but are trusting that God's plan and His timing are both perfect, and He knows much better than we do about what's best for our family! Patience is a virtue (that He is teaching me about the old-fashioned way). In the meantime, I can't get enough of the one baby boy that we do already have in our lives!

On one of our many roadtrips to visit Dad.

So there. Now that we're reacquainted with each other and got this awkward interaction out of the way, let's allow our relationship to flourish again! Tell me all about how you are! I've missed you!!