Let me introduce you to someone...

(This is where I wanted to put the ultrasound picture, but I couldn't get it scanned in)

That's right Brad and I are expecting our very first child on July 14th :) After we got over the initial shock since we were not trying to get pregnant, we were THRILLED!! We spent Thanksgiving telling our friends and family the exciting news, and now it is my privilege to share it with the world wide web!!

To tell my parents and brother I wrote each of them a note from the baby (whom we are referring to as "Baby C"), and I wrote a cute little poem to give to Brad's parents. They were all so excited, but not nearly as excited as Haley and Riley! Haley is super inquisitive about the whole thing, and Riley is pretty pumped too.

We went for our first appointment last Tuesday, and we got to see the baby and hear its heartbeat. It was so amazing!! I am so amazed at what an awesome God we worship!

Now that everyone knows they can stop wondering why I can't seem to bring myself to put make up on, clean my house, or for that matter even get out of the bed in the morning. The other morning one of my students said "Mrs. Collins you know you look much prettier when you actually put make up on" haha oops :) All of that being said Brad is definitely giving Chris Dowdy a run for his money in the husband of the year department. He has done all of the laundry in our house, mowed our grass, brought dinner home, and felt really sorry for me. I cannot believe how tired I am, or how sick I have felt lately. I do not like feeling so blah all the time. But only four more weeks of feeling like this, so I can tough it out for that long. My Mom swears that one day I will just wake up and will feel completely better...I'm still waiting for that switch to flip :)

Thankfulness Day 3...

Yes I know it is technically Thanksgiving already, but since I'm still awake this post counts as a Wednesday post :)

Today I was reminded of how thankful I should be for memories and wisdom. My great grandmother AKA Nana was just diagnosed this past weekend with terminal cancer. This has been hard for me to process because she also has dementia, and has not been quite herself for about a year now...she has good days and bad days (don't we all), so I haven't been able to determine whether this is a blessing for her or not. So, today I went to visit her and it was just really hard. Grandbess and Grandbud were there talking with hospice, so I sat in her room with her for about an hour while she rested and I just prayed over her. I thanked God for allowing her to be such a big part of my life and for allowing me to possess some of her qualities that I admire, and for letting me spend 22 years of my life learning from her. I also asked him to be gracious to her and not to allow her to suffer, and to prepare our hearts and help us grieve her death, heal and be able to celebrate her life whenever that time comes. After about an hour of just praying over her I did get to "visit" with her for a little while, and once she realized I was there she was her same spunky self (everyone says that's where I get my sass from...thank you nana!!). I am so thankful for the wisdom and the memories she has given me, she will never know the impact she has had on me!! Ben and I spent every summer of our childhood staying at her house while Debs and Big Steve worked, so Nana practically raised me and that's probably why I'm so tough :)... So I thought I would share with you some of the things I have learned from Nana...
-Don't let anyone push you around, ever, period.
-Always spend time with your family whenever you get the chance.
-Work hard at every thing you do.
-Shoes and purses are important investments.
-Spend your money wisely.
-Make jokes at your own expense.
-Look out for those around you who are less fortunate, especially family.
-Brad has really nice hair, don't let him cut it.
-Sometimes life is hard, but that's life, and you've just gotta keep on going.





I can't even begin to put into words how thankful I am for Nana. She is an amazing lady who has been through so much in her 92 years of living. I can only aspire to be the woman that she is. I'm looking forward to spending Thanksgiving with family tomorrow...I know I've told you this before, but its my FAVORITE FAVORITE FAVORITE holiday!!
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Thankfulness Day 2....

Today I am choosing to be thankful for my job. I say choosing because sometimes its just plain hard. It's hard to go to work, and sometimes its even hard to be thankful for it. Actually typing those words out makes me realize how RIDICULOUS that is!!! With so many Americans without jobs and losing their jobs how selfish of me is it to be ungrateful for my job. The funny thing is I actually like my job. I love the actual teaching part of my job. There are some other parts that make it a little trying, but the instruction and interaction with my students I LOVE. I love that I am the teacher they can relate to, and that I'm the one they want to come get advice from. I am lucky to have a job, and I am THANKFUL for my job. I am thankful for the students that God chose to put into my classes knowing that I could touch their little lives each in very different but very specific ways, and I love that through that process they are touching my life and they are changing me. I am thankful for the people that I work with because they provide me with an AWESOME support group. I am specifically thankful for those coworkers that have become friends. Wow. I have a lot to be thankful for this holiday season, I am truly truly blessed beyond measure!

Thankfulness...

It is my goal this week to write a post each day about something different that I am thankful for. This should not be a challenge since I have A LOT to be thankful for this year!! Today's post is going to be about one of my favorite blessings :)

I am SO thankful for Lindsey. She is the greatest friend I could ever dream of having. She is always there to listen to me, pray with me, simply just hang out, and sometimes to just have a good old fashioned gossip session (forgive us). I probably tell Brad approximately 20 times a day that I don't know what I would do without her. She is truly amazing. I can't even describe to you how powerful it is to have her pray over me. I definitely believe this is one of her spiritual gifts. She is such an amazing woman. She helps me to be a better christian, a better wife and just a better person in general. Oh Lindsey I am SO SO SO thankful for you!!

I am going to brag...

Yea, I'm totally going to brag about my wonderful husband, so if you are afraid this might make you gag don't read any further :)

I am SO proud of Brad for lots of reasons, but yesterday I got to experience first hand what a difference he has made in the lives of the guys who play on his Roanoke Star soccer team. We had a little get together after their game at one of his player's houses, and just about every single parent there came up to me and had something wonderful to say about Brad. My favorite story was from Matt's mom. She said that a couple of weeks ago her son e-mailed Brad to ask if he could miss two games to go to a YoungLife retreat. She told me that he was so nervous to ask that he almost didn't even do it. When Matt got Brad's response to the e-mail his Mom said he was so excited. Apparently Brad told Matt that he was involved in Athletes in Action and FCA while he was in college and high school and that he thinks it is great that Matt is getting involved in things like that too and that stuff like that is really important. So, Matt went to the retreat and his Mom said he came back and said that after being there all weekend he decided he might want to be a youth pastor!!! How awesome is that!! She told me that she is so thankful for Brad and that as her son has been playing for him the past two years she has seen a major change.

Not only has he transformed these guys into better soccer players, and a better team, he has transformed them from 13 year old boys into little men. It is so cool to see how they all look up to him and how they all respect him. I love to watch him coach because he's so stinkin' good at it!! So I think I'm done bragging for now, you'll have to forgive me, but you can't say I didn't warn ya :)