The parable of the garbage can . . .

About 3 weeks ago, I went to work feeling VERY upset. I couldn't find our garbage can! Reed had only just put it out for the garbage men and hadn't brought it in that night. The next morning, while leaving for work, I noticed that our garbage can wasn't out by the curb anymore. "He brought it in, it's a Wednesday miracle!" I thought. But just to make sure, I went and looked in our garage. No garbage can. It wasn't in our house and it wasn't in our backyard. Someone had stolen it! I fumed and fussed about it all day long, until coming home, I decided that I hadn't checked one place at home. When I got home, I checked behind our half fence. And there it was! I was so relieved that I decided it was a waste of my energy to be that upset about a garbage can again and so I resolved never to do it again. (By the way, in case you might think "why didn't she just call Reed and talk to him," Reed has lost his phone. Don't waste your time calling his #, just call Reed on my number.) I did tell Reed he might have told me where he had hidden it, so I wouldn't worry. Anyway, so fast forward to this week.
We forgot to put out our trash for the trash guys on Tuesday, our trash day, but Reed decided to get all the trash bags situated and ready for next week. So he went to our hiding spot for the can, and IT WAS GONE! :) Sorry, I smile because to me this time, it was funny. I had already decided, who in the heck goes around looking for unwatched trash cans just so they can steal them for their own house? If they really are that pathetic, then that person can have it. But, I noticed that our garbage can lid was still in the hiding spot, and we had been having really high winds out here. To me, that meant our can blew away. Reed walked all around our house, and told me I was wrong, and that someone had really stolen our can. I kept reasoning with him "But why would they leave the lid?" Yesterday, I was loving the weather and the sunshine, so I went for a walk in our neighborhood. Not even a block and a half from our house, in an empty field behind one house and to the side of another, there lay a deserted, dirty garbage can looking kind of lonely and looking a whole lot LIKE OURS! I was right! So, I hauled our dirty garbage can that had blown away from home back home. And what can we learn from this story? Well, never jump to the conclusion that other people are really THAT out to get you. I believe in general most people won't steal your garbage can.
Also, faith without works is dead. Heavenly Father knows our concerns and worries, how small or stupid they may seem. And he will help us, if we will let him guide us. Even if he guides us to take a walk on a sunny and windy day so we can locate our lost trash can.

Pictures of our House

This is in response to a request from my mom, who is serving a mission for our church in Texas. Here are pictures of our house! First up, our beautiful bay window! I still love it, but we are really wishing for some curtains.

This would be our hallway. First open door on the left is the bathroom, across the hall is our linen closet. All the way down the hall on the left is our tv room, the room next to that is our computer/baby room and all the way at the end of that hallway is our master bedroom.

This was taken on the 2nd day we moved in, so understandably, everything is still in boxes. Our house is looking so much better today than it has for awhile, because we're finally getting things put away! We might be able to have people over soon! :) Anyway, this picture was taken from the kitchen table, so this room is much larger than it looks, especially since it is adjoined by the front room.

Surprise!

Well, we told everyone that we were waiting for Christmas, but we couldn't wait! I know, we're weak. But at least this way we have time to get used to the idea that we're having a baby . . . . . girl? Wait a second. Evidently our order came in wrong, because we were both so sure it was a boy! Oh well. We're grateful that she's healthy and active. Merry Christmas to all!

How do you tackle a whole house?!?

Moving can be so frustrating! I know, we officially moved in about a month ago, but our house is still a huge, scary mess. It wouldn't be so bad, except that we keep bringing things into the house, and they get piled on top of the other piles in the house that need to be put away. It felt so bad to me that today in church, I just kept thinking about my house and how messy it is and how much it needs to be organized. It really ruins your Christmas mood to have a messy house. That said, I won't be able to work on it for at least another day! Oh well. All I want for Christmas is an organized house! :) I know we've all been there, it just feels like we're never home long enough to really focus and make some sort of a dent. Thankfully, both Reed and I have Wednesday through Friday off, so we'll have time to work together on our house and get lots done. Keep us in your prayers. :^P

Christmas finally came !!

Today we went and purchased our real, live Christmas tree. What a pain! :) I think I prefer the out of the box kind of Christmas tree, because you can put it up anytime, don't have to tie it down to your car, and then worry about watering it. But, I must admit, the smell of a real Christmas tree is awesome. That's why I love them! So I can start wrapping presents and putting them under our tree. It makes it feel just a little bit more like Christmas is actually coming now. I love it.
In other news, Reed and I have decided to put off graduate school for another year. This way, Reed has more time to look into schools, study for the GMAT, and find a job in the meantime that might be in the field that his bachelor's degree was in and maybe make enough at it that I can stay home with our baby and not have to work! That last part would be well worth it to wait another year. Plus, it really helps our lives to calm down a little bit and not feel so rushed. Still no callings yet in our new ward, but we've been warned that the bishopric is looking for a couple to work in nursery. :) Who knows. . . . . I was kind of looking forward to working with the adults in this ward in some capacity, but we will be happy to serve in whatever way we can.
I'm not excited or anything, but Christmas is only a week and a half away! And that means we'll know whether we're having little John or little Jane! :) (Don't think for a second I'm actually giving away our baby's name. That will continue to be a surprise for the next 5 1/2 months or so.) Everyone have a great week! Remember the real reason we celebrate this time of year!!

December 22nd is our big day!

Okay, to all those waiting with me to find out the sex of our baby, we go to our ultrasound on December 22nd around 3 pm. But alas, I cannot share the sex of our baby until Christmas Day! Won't that be a great present for all you faithful followers of our baby saga?! Hopefully our little guy/girl will be sitting as improperly as possible so we can get a good look to see what he/she is. Something I'm almost more excited about is that I don't have to fill my bladder to exploding! They can do the ultrasound without a full bladder. :) I love it.

A funny thing happened as we were getting ready for church . . .

Okay, so I completely forgot about this funny housewarming present we received last Sunday. Reed and I were getting ready for church and were just about all ready when we remembered that all of our shoes were out in the garage. Reed remembered this first, and so he was the first to walk out in our freezing garage, barefoot, to go and get some church shoes. Since I didn't want him to think he was waiting for me, I rushed after him to get my shoes too, so we could be ready about the same time. Also barefoot. As I walked out on the cold concrete, I heard the door shut behind me, thinking nothing of it. Until I tried to open it, just to make sure that Reed had unlocked it. Which he hadn't. And then Reed said, "Did you unlock the door?!" To which I responded, "uh oh, I thought you did." We were locked in our garage, on Sunday morning, with no keys to start our cars, and no keys to get back into the house! We were locked out of our house! Our very new house!! Luckily, Reed had packed my bike, and one of his best friends lives down the road. So, he hopped on my bike, no socks, only shoes and no coat! Luckily, I guess this happens to everybody in the neighborhood, so his friends wife knew how to get us back into our house using her old debit card. They were just piling into their car as Reed rode up, and the first thing his friend said was, "You locked yourselves out of the garage, didn't you?!" Oh, thank heaven for people who make the same mistakes we do! I was pretty chilled after that whole experience, but luckily while I was waiting for Reed to ride to his friends house, I found our winter hats, scarves and gloves, and half a bag of carmel corn! :) I was okay! Directly following this incident, I put our extra key in our garage so we couldn't get locked out again, and now I check 2-3 times that the door isn't locked before I ever let it close behind me. Yikes!