2 weeks till Baby

Just 2 weeks away from the arrival of our baby boy!  We moved into a new house last month and after unpacking all our boxes we got to work on the nursery.  We created the best nursery ever and enjoyed having so many people contribute through painting and gifts.

Pregnancy has been great and motherhood will be even better.

Currently Reading The Pregnancy Bible: Your Complete Guide to Pregnancy and Early Parenthood see related

And Along Came Baby

I’m having a baby!!!  I’m nearly 4 months pregnant and our baby is due in February.  We are so excited and already have names picked out.  I am reading books on pregnancy, reading info on the internet and listening to baby podcasts in my free time.  I can’t wait to be a mother and for this next season in my life.

I’ve also launched my new ministry this month and my new website: www.bebeautifulministy.com

I am speaking at an all women’s Chi Alpha retreat in PA this weekend.  It will be an incredible time of sharing our lives, learning, healing and growing in God’s goodness.

Also, I’m gearing up to help Tory with marketing for his business.  He just launched his web site too, which is great for anyone with a medical, missions or medical missions interest.  www.arizonapain.com   This is a fab website and I’m really proud of him and the new adventure he is beginning in October!

Other highlights:  my hair...it's now platinum and I love it!  Tory and I went kayaking on Lake Superior last week.

Currently Reading Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress: A Novel By Dai Sijie see related

Sea to Sea on a Green Train

Last weekend, we were walking the boardwalk along the Pacific Ocean in San Diego.  I had the most expensive ice cream cone of my entire life:  $9.25 for just a double scoop waffle cone at Ben and Jerry's!  The day was hot and beautiful and the exorbitant prices didn't seem to stop anyone, including Tory and I.  Wow!

One week later, I am living in a quaint, furnished apartment overlooking Lake Superior in Duluth, Minnesota.  There is nothing but a few pine trees and grass between our front door and the largest fresh water lake in the world.  It looks like an ocean and we sit on our deck and watch the 1000 foot long iron ore ships transverse the endless blue horizon.  It is beautiful, cool, green and refreshing here.  We take Indi, our 8 month old golden retriever to the lake daily.  She discovered a passion for running and leaping off the boat dock for a plunge into the cool waters.  It's hilarious to watch her extend her legs like superman and fly off, creating a great belly flop below!

I'm working on increasing my green meter.  For 3 months already, we have been sharing one vehicle.  I love it.  It keeps life simple, we cut down on gas and expenses.  I purchased a Terrapass for my next flight to offset my carbons but my challenge with bottled water consumption still haunts me.  We have well water which is salty and completely undrinkable...I buy mass amount of bottled water.  I feel bad about this.  Bottled water costs more than gasoline and leaves a terrible carbon footprint.  I have been trying to fill my nalgene bottled with the good city water from the park drinking fountain.  I can't make it there everyday, however.  I'm still looking for a good solution.  I never appreciated having good drinking water from the faucet until I moved away from it.  I'm still looking for a few more environmentally friendly ideas to incorporate into my lifestyle...

Leader Reader Reader Leader

A review of my recently read books:

The Upcoming Economic Collapse by Dr Stephen Leeb

            -Discusses the impending oil crisis, what we can do to prepare and where to invest your money to succeed in the future.  Highly recommended!  I want my own wind turbine now.

The Road Less Traveled by Scott Peck

            -I finally read this best selling classic.  I see this book quoted everywhere and finally read it myself.  I loved it!  Everyone read this one if you haven’t yet.

What’s So Amazing About Grace by Philip Yancy

            -A refreshing and challenging read.  Great for discussion.

The Gospel According to Starbucks by Leonard Sweet

            -I loved this book.  It’s a perfect mix of spiritual principles and marketing genius.  A great read if your into business models, marketing and the emerging culture.

Shopaholic and Sister by Sophie Kinsella

            -I’m reading the entire series and it’s a great laugh and choice fiction.

A New Kind of Christian by Brian McLaren

            -A thought provoking introduction to the philosophy of the emerging church movement.

Every Second Counts by Lance Armstrong

            -Inspiring read.  It has more racing and training details than his first book, It’s Not About the Bike.  Read the first book first, it’s better and talks more about his battle with cancer.

Collapse by Jared Diamond

            -I’m on an environmental/anthropology/economic crisis info kick.  This books presents new concepts to me and is helping round out my world view.

Abba’s Child by Brennan Manning

            -I love Brennan Manning’s books.  Highly recommended!  It is similar to Ragamuffin Gospel but includes more of his personal journey toward grace.

and finally…

The Happiest Baby on the Block

            -After you get married, I guess you begin reading child raising books.  Never too early to start.

Five Trips to The Temple

Trip 1:  Stranger with an Umbrella.  Caught in a downpour, leaving the bookstore with my new purchase heading to The Temple coffeeshop in Sacramento, CA.  The unprepared, like me, running frantically.  Those with unbrellas laughing at the rest of us.  Then a man appears with an extra large unbrella and asks if I would like to walk with him.  Savior!  He walks me to the front door of The Temple and I escape inside to dry over steaming coffee and my novel.

Trip 2:  The Weirdo.  Glorious sunny afternoon.  One of my great delights is outdoor dining...whether that's dinner on the patio or an ice cream cone on a park bench.  This day, it would be coffee at The Temple, seated in a patch of sunlight.  Tiny table for two.  It was wonderful, quaint and peaceful until the weirdo arrived.  "Do you mind if I sit here?"  he asked pointing six inches from me at the chair across the table.  It's one of those times you want to say, "no" but since I didn't want to be rude, I said, "ok."  He sat down at my tiny table for two, never mind the completely empty tables all around us.

Trip 3:  Sanguine Runner.  Renae is the fun-loving, wise, wild, tatooed, Jesus-loving friend of  Kathryn. She's a marathon running wonder, a wife, mother, leader and refreshing like spring wind.  We laughed over lattes.  Brillant.

Trip 4:  Doctor in Scrubs.  My husbands best friend lives in Sacramento.  He is strangely like my husband, with the same verbiage and voice inflections.  Funny, much like Tory.  I left with a greater appreciation for their friendship and feeling I made a new friend, too.

Trip 5:  Beautiful Best Friend.  When it's time to leave, tradition has it, we get up early, and Kat always gives me a glamorous hairdo for the airplane ride home.  Much more spectacular than necessary.  I came to Sac to see her, and finally at 6am, on the way to the airport, we decide we have time for coffee.  We never really have time, and she is trying to get a few more pictures of me, "oh, stop right there...the sunrise in the background."  Click.  We dash into The Temple and race out again with coffee and muffins.    "Wait, right there, with the tree behind you."  (She's an amazing photographer, just one of her myriad of talents.)  It's tradition, running late, glam hair flying, juggling coffee, napkins, car keys, luggage, last minute photos, laughing, and oops, we took a wrong turn.  It happens everytime.  Different cities, different coffee venues but always the same.  We HAD to get coffee.  I make my flight with lots of laughs and a little stress.  I love my best friend and I love life lived in around the coffeeshop.

                                                                                                                     Glam Hair by Kat