And 7 months later I am back....

Hello everyone.... I know it has been almost 7 months since my last post on here but so much has happened since then. I have been blogging on our adoption blog instead because January 22nd we got a phone call that changed our lives completely. We adopted our son Jackson Clyde Wurmnest from Memphis, TN.
The plan was to blog there for a while then switch back to this blog, however as life turns out we are actually expecting another baby (this time through pregnancy) in January 2013!!! How crazy is that!? The first trimester has been a rough one with all of the extra horomones they had to give me. I have been pretty sick (nauseous, dizzy, etc). Hopefully I am almost out of the woods with that trimester though.
This morning I woke up suddenly and just laid in bed thinking of the song "This is the Day.... That the Lord has made." It was on repeat in my head. I was trying to figure out why this song was stuck in my head and realized God had put it there for a reason.Today is the day I needed to start my morning devotions again. I had let them go for so long and now it's time to spend time with God every morning - not just when I happen to think of Him!
So I opened up my devotional and it was perfect for some of the thoughts that have been going on in my head. The devotional was titled "Getting a Do-Over (part 3). The main premise of this devo was about using our God-given talents for our jobs. Following our life purpose will disappoint someone or perhaps many someones. Not following our life purpose will disappoint us and dishonor why we are here. This was the most important part for me because so often I second guess my decision to resign from teaching to be a stay-at-home mom for a few years. I know God gave me the talents in teaching but He also blessed with not one (now 2) children!! I feel that He has called me to raise them the first few formative years before heading back to work. I know many people don't understand this decision and many often challenge it, but this is what God's plan for me is. I wouldn't do it any other way!!!
What is your life purpose? Are you following it?

29 years and counting!!!

This week was my birthday week! This week marked the last "twenty-something" birthday of my life. Next year the big 3-0! Yikes! I went back to school with the kiddos today and it was fun hearing several Happy Birthdays from my students. A beautiful flower arrangement showed up at work compliments of my wonderful husband Chad! It was just a great day all around.... the evening was no exception (for a while). I hadn't been feeling good all day... heavy chest, coughing, no voice,etc. But I wasn't about to let that spoil my birthday. I went to dinner with several friends (Megan, Nate, Lindsey, Andrew, Natalie, and Chad) to Red Lobster - my absolute favorite!! I ordered my usual cesar salad, grilled tilapia, baked potato, brocoli, and for desert got Key Lime pie. Unfortunately not feeling good caught up with me so I ate very little of my dinner - saved the pie for home later. After dinner Chad and I went to prompt care to get me taken care of. I went home with 2 antibiotics, one inhaler, and advice to stay home the next day and rest.
So I stayed home on the 5th sleeping and resting on the couch. I went back to work yesterday and helped chaperone the junior high dance. It was a blast last night. I came home exhausted and ready to crash. I woke up this morning really stuffed up not feeling up to doing much. So here I am staying home instead of going to Peoria to visit Libby and her new addition, as well as Dad and Lori. :( Sad.... I am going to stay home and try to do a few things around the house as well as rest. 29 years should be exciting and hopefully once I kick this respiratory thing it will be!

Happy New Year! 2012!!!

Elijah Crate Moore born 1/1/12
to Libby and Dan Moore

Well... 2011 has come and gone! Now it's 2012 and we are ready for it!!! So many good things to come in this year - I can feel it! It started off good with Libby having her baby yesterday - Elijah Crate Moore was born last night at 7lbs. 11 oz. Congrats to the new Moore family!

Here are some resolutions Chad and I have made for this new year....

1. Emily is going to start Weight Watchers today. I weighed in at my largest weight ever (sad) which is 161. I have never been here before and want to lose 15-20 pounds by next year. Hopefully sooner...
2. We are going to stick to a budget using the Quicken program. Hopefully we can cut expenses and prepare for a baby in the next year.
3. Emily is continuing grad school and will be finishing in 2013.
4. We both hope and pray that God will bless us with a baby this year. We want to become three!

It's been a Good Year! So long 2011!!!

2011 has been a great year filled with ups and downs. A lot has happened this year... let's review!

• Chad got promoted to Black Belt meaning more time at home and less stress at work!
• We are in the process of adoption and have a lot of activity going on - now we just need to have the right birthmother and baby for us! :)
• Emily took up many new hobbies such as sewing again, blogging, card making, etc. What projects will she do in the coming year?
• We went to Gatlinburg, TN on vacation with the Wurmnest reunion crew! Lots of fun things happened there!
• Emily rejoined the theater world at Bloomington Community Players in the Spring production of Titanic (Kate Murphey)
• Chad had a great harvesting season - able to spend more time at the farm

A lot of good things happened and more will come in 2012! Hopefully this time next year we will be three instead of two!

Christmas is over - the New Year is approaching!

Christmas was an amazing event this year! It was more relaxed even though we had the same amount of families to visit. It was definately one to remember! Chad was definately surprised by his new Toshiba Tablet which came in an EXTREMELY large box just to throw him off. He surprised me with a beautiful heart shaped diamond necklace and a new Nook Tablet! It was great to see everyone and spend some quality family time together.
We began on Christmas Eve with my family in the morning. We opened stockings and presents, while eating a Butterbraid. MMM..... Lori and I went to Peoria to do some last minute shopping exchanges while Dad and Chad went to Grandpa Knapp's to look at guns. Chad and I headed to Wurmnests for our immediate family gift exchange around 3:30, then to Grandma Henry's at 5:30. Grandma surprised us all by having Uncle Brad grill ribeyes for dinner. Then she gave me a fantastic gift this year. She surprised me with a photo album and box full of memories that we made at their house. She kept every card, letter, and coloring I ever made for them - all were even dated!! I still have to get through all of it but it was definately a surprise.
We went to Aupperles for Christmas morning brunch followed by Wurmnests for the Knapp Family Christmas that evening! It was quite an enjoyable time with all!
We were exhausted the next few days but we just keep on going. We are heading to Biaggi's tonight with Chad's family for the Roth Cousin dinner. Tomorrow is New Year's Eve which came so quick! Seems like we were just beginning 2011!!! Tomorrow I will wrap up thoughts from the past year and begin again in the new year 2012!

The Christmas season is running full speed ahead now!

The busyness of the season has officially started to kick into full gear. This weekend alone was one crazy ride - but very fun indeed! We started out yesterday going to EIU for Jenna's graduation! She is officially an EIU alumni - in with some very good company if I do say so myself! Now the real world will start to take over and she can join in the teaching force!


Jenna on Graduation Day from EIU - December 17, 2011

After Jenna's graduation we hitailed it back to Washington, IL after picking up Mitzi in Maroa - we were off to the Waughop family Christmas! It was so much fun seeing everyone together again and this year everyone was happy! JW is getting so big - he is all over the place and back! He was quite the little entertainer with all of his faces and funny noises!
Izzy, Hannah, and Zach seem to be doing much better as well! I think Sean is a good thing in their lives and hope they continue to heal! I enjoyed catching up with them last night!

This week is the last week before Christmas break... only 3 days left! Tomorrow our hallway is wearing jeans and red shirts, Tuesday is jeans with green shirts, and Wednesday is PJ pants day! Should be a fun week in all! I will post more during this wonderful holiday season!

It's a Party Tonight!!!

Our annual Christmas party is tonight and I am excited!!! We have invited all of our dearest friends, family, and co-workers to come share in a fun filled evening! We do our party open house style so people don't feel obiligated to stay for long amounts of time. We know this time of year is busy but we would like to see everyone during this holiday season.
Tomorrow our parents are coming down to enjoy the leftovers and to see our house decorated for Christmas! We are so lucky to have supportive families who like to share in our new traditions! Pictures will be posted later on.... hope to see you all later!