Traditions

Brian and I were laying in bed talking and we started discussing what our favorite family traditions were growing up. It was a really fun conversation and we talked about what we want some of our traditions to be for our growing family.

Some of my favorites:
1. Watching America's Funniest Videos on Sunday nights while eating no bake cookies
2. Our trips to Tacoma to see my grandparents-I loved staying in a hotel (they managed a Best Western) and swimming in the outdoor pool, regardless of the temperature outside.
3. Eating dinner together as a family
4. Snow skiing in the winter. We would leave really early in the morning so my mom would lay out all of our clothes and gear in the living room the night before, I would get so excited!
5. Family reunions

Some of Brian's favorites:
1. Their yearly family trips together, didn't matter where
2. Eating dinner together as a family
3. Family reunions
4. BBQ's

Ones we thought of for our family:
1. Family dinners (this will be difficult at times since Brian sometimes gets home late)
2. Yearly trips: Shasta, camping, boating, coast, Bend, etc.
3. Bike rides during the summer
4. Christmas morning together before going to grandparents houses

What are your favorite traditions?

Weekend Fun

Pretty much all I blog about are our weekends, but we don't do anything during the week so that makes sense. Once I'm a SAHM (stay at home mom) I'm sure I'll have plenty to blog about all week long; including poop, breastfeeding, sleep (or lack there of), and ginormous amounts of pictures. However, I won't have as much time to blog :)

Anyway, we had a wonderful weekend as always and Monday came frighteningly fast. Friday we were bummed to receive the news that UPS decreased their tuition reimbursement and are now paying for about 10% of tuition. This came as quite a blow to us as we are already struggling to pay tuition. We brainstormed options but unfortunately struck out everywhere:

1. Student Loans
Negative-You have to take at least 2 classes EVERY term
2. Student Loan from our Credit Union
Negative-same as #1
3. Scholarships
Negative-same as #1
4. Credit Card
Negative-our budget is very tight since I'll be staying at home, tight enough that we don't have extra money for a credit card payment.
5. Pay for it ourselves
Negative-see #4

We feel trapped between a rock and a hard place: On the one hand we've already invested so much money and time (well, Brian's time) in Brian's master's degree and he's so close, just 8 classes away! But on the other hand we don't have the means for him to finish. So we were quite bummed Friday night but made the best of it by baking cookies, watching tv, and laughing together. We also realized that although this is frustrating we are incredibly thankful for Brian's job at UPS and are very grateful for it.
After more research Brian applied for a student loan through Chase so we're hoping that one is our saving grace! It's so important to Brian to finish his master's and because of that it's important to me.

Saturday night we had friends over for dinner and games: Dave and Nate & Amy. We had a good time together and it was fun to catch up. Nate dominated us all at Domino's which was thoroughly deflating-I thought I was getting better, but no. I did win at Skip Bo though! Dave's little girl Scarlette is 1 and although she was with mommy on a vacation with the grandparents, he brought lots of pictures. She is adorable and it made us even more excited to meet our little one.

We are looking forward to this weekend as it includes:

1. A haircut for Lindsey
2. Daddy Boot Camp for Brian
3. Family baby shower
4. OSU Basketball game
5. Shopping for last minute items for Bria
6. Watch Superbowl

It should be a good weekend and inevitably Monday will smack us in the face way too soon.

Weekend Fun

We went out to dinner Saturday night to celebrate Jenny and Kyle's birthdays and had a good time. Kyle's parents joined us and it's always fun to see them, with all of us together there's lots of laughter and fun.

Here are my Dad and Anna:

Brian and I (this was our 3rd attempt at a picture of us, Brian likes to be difficult)

Lance in the background being goofy-Jenny and Kyle (Kyle is being hidden-not intentionally!)

Lance ordered a peanut butter dream cake for dessert and let me have some. Oh. My. Goodness. I was in heaven, it was so stinkin' good. But I'm glad I didn't order one for myself because I probably would've finished it and that is just wrong. So I was able to still enjoy the dessert without feeling too terribly guilty. Man do I love peanut butter and chocolate together.

Anyway, happy birthday to my wonderful sister Jenny. I think if I had to describe her in one word it would be sunshine. That may seem weird but I have my reasons:
1. Her smile is forever bright and incredibly contagious
2. She is so much fun to be around and is so positive
3. Her gorgeous hair

Of course there is a way longer list of all the wonderful things about Jenny, but those are the ones that make me think of sunshine when I think of Jenny.
She is currently working her little butt off to get into the dental hygiene program and I'm so proud of her. Love you sis!

Kyle's birthday is coming up and I can't say enough how grateful we are to have him in our family, he just fits. He has made Jenny so incredibly happy and for that we are forever thankful to him. I'm forever thankful all our husbands are so close-and I think Lance likes having 3 older brothers...sometimes ;)

My other brother in law, Schuyler, also has a birthday this month (it's a busy month in our family!) and I can barely remember the time before Schuyler was a part of our family. He just fits perfectly. And he is seriously such an amazing Dad, second only to my Dad (and soon he'll have to be 3rd since Brian is going to be a Dad soon).

Happy Birthday to all my peeps!

Things are going well at the Holcomb house, we are just plugging along taking it one day at a time. I had yesterday off and my mom and I enjoyed a trip to Target. We got some great stuff in preparation for Bria and I love marking things off my to do list, it feels wonderful.

The weather here has been UNBELIEVABLE. Seriously, I am in heaven. It's still chilly outside but it is sunny and blue sky all day, I just love it. It's making my walks even more enjoyable and it's not hard to be motivated to get outside and go. The cool crisp air is refreshing and my skin is thankful to finally get some vitamin D.

Alright, that's all for now, here's to a great week :)

WAHOO!

We have heat people! That's right, we are no longer able to see our own breath in our house. Alright, well it never got that bad, but you get the idea.
My dad was very nice and offered to come be at our house yesterday so the heating guys could come over and fix our furnace. So last night we came home to a warm house and it felt wonderful, I even got hot when I came back from my walk. Heat is a beautiful thing I tell you. So, nobody needs to worry about calling the parent police on us, Bria will be coming home to a warm environment.

What is heat like?

I can't remember what it's like to have a warm house. Would you believe we still don't have a working furnace? Apparently the part did not come in at all last week so we are still wearing our winter jackets in the house. The heating company gave us space heaters which was nice of them. Unfortunately our downstairs is one big open room so those space heaters don't really do a lot, unless we want to pay $500 in our electric bill. Oh well, they do help when you sit right next to them, which is what we do in the evenings.
Brian got a call today that the part did finally come in so now we'll see when we can be home to have them install it. Never thought this would be such a long process! Not that I'm eager to get rid of $400-500, but still, I'd really like some heat. I have to admit, through this whole ordeal, the one thing both Brian and I are very grateful for is that Bria is still warm in my womb. I'm not sure what we would've done if she was on the outside when this happened, our house is not a suitable temperature for a baby!

At this point in time I'm feeling very unmotivated at work and ready to just be done. It doesn't help that I feel overwhelmed with things to do at home to prepare for Bria's arrival. I know part of my to do list is my nesting instinct kicking in and wanting to organize the entire house inside and out, but some of it is essential. I just like to be ready way ahead of time and I thought for sure we would be 100% ready at this point in the pregnancy (8 months). I started to stress yesterday and Brian told me to lay down and take a nap, surprisingly I was able to get to sleep and it did help. Although it caught up with me last night when I laid there trying to go to bed for over an hour and then tossed and turned all night. My mind just wouldn't stop racing!

So far Brian's class this term is going well. He has had the professor before and really likes him which is a huge help. To me that is what makes it or breaks it. I got an A in calculus because I had the best professor ever. I would've gotten a 4.0 for sure if he had taught all my classes, he was that engaging. He made all his lessons so interesting that you wanted to pay attention. Plus, I am a nerd and sit in the front which forces me to listen. Anyway, I'm hoping this class will give him enough time to work and be a daddy :-)

Alright, that's it for now, hopefully my next post will be more exciting and have good news about our furnace.

Don't Sweat the Small Stuff

So I am really trying to stress less and to look at the big picture instead of freaking out. It is one of my goals. Well don't ya know when you make that kind of goal you get tested?

 

On Saturday morning we woke up to our house being 53 degrees, brrr. Normally that wouldn't be a big deal since I am sleeping extra warm these days and Brian has a good internal furnace, but the problem was that our thermostat was set to 56, so why was it so cold? Our furnace was busted. We tried calling the landlords and then remembered those days are over, we are the landlords. Brian fiddled around with it and then called around. Luckily there was a place open on Saturdays and they didn't charge extra for the weekend. So they came out and he seemed a little stumped but decided to replace the ignitor, jiggle some wires, and it worked. The ignitor was $150 and his services were $75. Gulp. At least we had heat. 

We leave for the evening to have dinner and play games with Nate and come home around 11:30 pm to a cold house. The furnace is not working. Again. After we just spent $225. Brian is livid. So he calls the company and they fortunately have an answering service. Unfortunately, Brian proceeds to unload on this poor girl who is just answering the phones. He doesn't actually unload per say, but explains how frustrated he is. He does feel a little better after this and is able to go to sleep. They are set to come out Sunday morning at 10 am. 

Fast forward to 10:30 am-nothing. Finally Brian calls and talks to the guy who says he will be here in 10 minutes. The guy gives us our $225 check back which was a huge relief as we really didn't want to have to fight about that. He decided it's not the ignitor (duh) and that's it's the mother circuit board, which he has to order. Guess that means another few days of wearing our winter jackets in the house. 

Playing dominos in our coats:

Monday morning Brian calls around and finds a place that is more experienced with our furnace type and also has cheaper parts. So, they come out and diagnose the same thing: the circuit board. They also have to order the part but it will come in Tuesday afternoon. Great, we can finally have heat. So what's the damage? About $475. Gulp. 

Gulp. 

Gulp. 

Oh my, how are we going to afford that? It's okay, we'll take it out of savings and then put extra in there next month since we're paying off my student loans next month. 

At this point (Monday afternoon) I'm not feeling too horrible, it's a huge inconvenience, but that is what comes with being a home owner and I am remembering to take everything in stride. 

Then Brian calls again, this time about his student loans. A little back story: We put his student loans on deferment since he is going to school. This has really helped us and I've made the budget around the fact that we won't have to pay his student loans until he finishes his masters, at which point we are hoping for a big raise. So for the past 3 months we haven't paid his student loans. Back to Monday afternoon: Apparently we should not have been approved for deferment because he has to go to school part-time (minimum of 2 classes) to be eligible for deferment in the first place. So now we owe 3 months worth of his student loans and have to figure it in the budget for the next 3 months until he starts taking 2 classes in the spring. This is where I start to freak out. I don't really say anything and Brian wonders if I'm still on the phone or if I have passed out. After some nonsense mumbling from me about how I need a minute I hang up. I take a deep breath and say a prayer. But instead of asking to win the lottery, I ask for help in remembering all our blessings. We have our health, our loved ones have their health, we have a home, we have good jobs, and we are expecting a little miracle in February. Things are great. Financial worries are something we can deal with and fix. I'm not saying I didn't feel a little sick the rest of day and tried to go over in my mind how on earth we were going to pay for all of this, but I realized that we can do it and we have so many good things to be thankful for. This is just a little speed bump in the road. 

Now, onto some fun memories and the blessings I was just speaking of...family. I am finally uploading our Christmas pictures.

Christmas Eve at Mom R.'s house

Christmas Eve at Mom B.'s house, here is Porter, MJ and Lance posing for me:

Porter was helping his mom play the piano

Kailey and Jaidyn were too:

Adorable little K-bear:

Porter realized for the first time that I had a big belly. It was pretty funny watching him inspect why my tummy was so big, I think he thought I had put a basketball under my shirt so he had to see what was under it. 

The siblings and their mom

MJ and her Dad

Little Sammie's first Christmas (my mom and Randy's newest addition)

Jaidyn loved hauling Sammie around:

Mom and Randy:

The Tegner's

My buddy and me:

The Jensen's

The Holcomb's

Christmas day at my dad's house (I apparently was on a picture hiatus):

Abby and Cassidy have no problem posing for pictures, I love it!

Little Abby and me

For New Year's we played games at my mom's house which was a lot of fun. Jenny made some fancy drinks for the girls and even put pretty red sugar around the rim, they loved it!

Jenny making the drinks

Whew, that was a lot of pictures! We've had a great Holiday season and I really am so grateful for all our blessings. We are of course looking forward to bringing our little one home and can't wait to meet her. We're gonna be parents!!!

2 posts in 1 day!

Wow, 2008 was a great year. We accomplished a lot of our goals: paid off the credit card (and we are one month away from paying off my student loans!), got pregnant (wahoo!), and focused on our relationship growing and thriving. Brian was transferred to a different center which is unfortunate due to the increased commute, but he still has a job and loves learning new things. My job and work environment became so much more pleasant and I am incredibly grateful for that, otherwise I'm not sure I would have survived.
Obviously, the most exciting event in 2008 was getting pregnant and finding out we're having a healthy baby girl. We are thrilled beyond words and can't wait to meet our little one, only 8 weeks until my due date! 2009 represents the year our little family grows by 2 feet.

Here is 2008 is review:

1. What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before?

Got pregnant

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I'm not really into making new year's resolutions so I didn't have any. Unless you consider paying off the credit card a new year's resolution. Next year: be a good mom.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

My friend Brandi-to her adorable son, Austin.

My friend Tiff-to her precious little girl, Maggie.

My friend Shauna-to her angel baby girl, Aria.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

My grandmother-she passed away in April and although I miss her terribly, I am happy she is with my grandpa again. I also like to think she helped send little Bria to Brian and I.

5. What countries did you visit?

None.

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?

A baby, lol. Patience (I think Bria will probably help me with that).

7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

June 20th-Found out we were pregnant!

October 2nd-Found out we were having a healthy baby girl!

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Getting pregnant, that was hard work :) Also, surviving my job and Brian's crazy peak season.

9. What was your biggest failure?

Not staying active during my pregnancy.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

Does the food poisoning episode count?

11. What was the best thing you bought?

We love our Murano-although we hate the car payment.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

Brian's, he works so hard and never complains (I complain though!).

Lance's, he joined the Navy Reserves and I'm so proud of him.

Sara's, she joined the Army and is so brave.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

The mean co-worker of mine.

14. Where did most of your money go?

Towards debt and our mortgage.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

Getting pregnant! Also the election, so happy Obama won.

16. What song will always remind you of 2008?

"I want a Hippopotamus For Christmas" for some reason I absolutely love that song.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? Happier
b) thinner or fatter? Fatter, no question
c) richer or poorer? Richer (that is soon to change though!)

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?

Exercise

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?

Worry

20. How did you spend Christmas?

With our families.

21. Did you fall in love in 2008?

Yes, with my little one growing inside me :)

22. What was your favorite TV program?

The Office, Amazing Race, and Survivor

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

Nah

24. What was the best book you read?

The whole Twilight series, duh!

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?

I don't have one.

26. What did you want and get?

Impregnated.

27. What did you want and not get?

A good tan this summer.

28. What was your favorite film of this year?

Twilight

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

I woke up to a beautifully wrapped box and inside were adorable shoes from my sweet husband. I believe we went out for ice cream that night. We had just gotten back from Shasta so we laid low-plus I was pregnant so no boozing ;)

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

Paying off ALL our debt, that is my favorite day dream.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?

Simple.

32. What kept you sane?

Brian-he's definitely my rock. Also getting pregnant and knowing there is a light at the end of the tunnel (SAHM).

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

Robert Pattinson

34. What political issue stirred you the most?

Just the election in general, those who spout off facts they hear on the internet but don't bother to research the actual truth. All the judgment was hard to listen to, can't we all just get along?

35. Who did you miss?

Brandi, I would've loved to have her here through the pregnancy and just in general. Plus I miss little Austin.

36. Who was the best new person you met?

All my fellow TTC girls, who says you can't have great friends on the internet?

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008.

It helps to sing your argument when you are fighting with your spouse, this alleviates your anger, makes you laugh, and you can talk rationally. This was Brian's idea by the way, he's a genius.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

Life's a dance you learn as you go
Sometimes you lead, sometimes you follow
Don't worry about what you don't know
Life's a dance you learn as you go

Happy New Year everyone!