Pregnancy

I am currently 27 weeks pregnant. I'm due in late August, and will be in a wedding on August 4th (unless I have the baby super-duper close & can't make it).

So far, I've had an excellent pregnancy, and have been extremely blessed. There are things that seem hard & a struggle to me, but in comparison with most women & particularly a friend of mine who's 10 weeks behind me, I am having a dream pregnancy!!

I didn't throw up from morning sickness at all. I threw up from a combination of heat exhaustion & dehydration, but not from pregnancy. All I had to deal with was nausea, which I'd already been dealing with before I got pregnant. I've had some fairly awful reflux, but it's manageable most of the time.
I don't always feel beautiful, and I don't always love being pregnant, but I AM thankful!
I am so thankful to be pregnant, and to get this chance to raise a child for God.

I'm trying to dress in a way that complements me & my bump. I don't always succeed, but I don't think I do too horrible a job of it!

Here's some photos that I've taken so far:

 This is me at 20 weeks pregnant 

(excuse the face.. hubby wouldn't let me smile)

This is me at 25 weeks pregnant

Miscellany

- Well, my blog is now public! I was hoping that this would make me feel more accountable to post, but so far it hasn't done anything but made me feel more guilty.

- I tried to participate in the 'What I Wore Wednesday', but it's very hard to take good, full-length pictures of yourself, and I keep forgetting to ask my hubby to do it for me. Maybe I need to find his tripod and figure out how to set that up?

- We're slowly settling into our new home. There are still a few packed boxes, but that's stuff that needs to stay packed away.

- I start piano lessons up again next week, and I'm a bit nervous about it because I haven't played in a very long time. Almost two years, I think.
I am looking forward to it, though. My piano teacher is a lovely person, and I miss seeing her and catching up with her, so this will be a lovely excuse to hang out and be (lovingly) horrible to each other!

- I am trying to learn good portion sizes, good food habits, and overall healthy living. For me,  this means that I'm tracking my calorie intake. This seems to be the only way of keeping myself accountable, and the only way of knowing that I'm eating the right amounts of food. I'm using Livestrong's MyPlate, and I seem to be coping with it fairly well. I'm hoping that I can make this a long-term thing, and not just a fad that keeps coming in and out. I want to eat healthily, and I want to be responsible with how much food I take in.
I'm also going to the gym most days of the week. I really enjoy it, and I think that I feel a lot better afterwards.

- I bought some Halftee's just after Thanksgiving, and I got them yesterday! I've already been wearing them, and I love them! I'm actually kinda excited for summer because it will mean less layers under clothes, which will be cooler for me.

That's all the miscellaneous 'stuff' that's been going on in my life, so I'll finish up now. Hopefully I'll be back with an actual post not TOO far in the future.

What I Wore Wednesday: Spring

There's a weekly blog link-up going around that I can't remember where it originated (and I can't link up because this blog is currently private), but I thought I'd partially participate this week.
By partially participate, I mean that it's already Wednesday, so I'm only going to post a photo from today.

So here goes..

Wednesday: General running around, having coffee with a friend, packing and cleaning.

Dress - Chica Booti 

Shrug/Bolero - Miller's

Okay, so I look a little goofy, but trust me when I say that I looked goofier when I smiled.
Also, the dress is a deeper and darker colour in person, but I didn't know how to make that come across in the picture.

Marriage

Before I got married, I had a lot of people say a lot of negative stuff about marriage to me. For instance: "It's really, really hard!" "It's no bed of roses" "You're gonna be tied down forever" "A person's faults are only magnified in marriage"
Although some of that may be true in some form or another, I can honestly say that after 5 months of marriage I'm still loving my husband and am truly thrilled that I get to spend the rest of my life with him.
Sure, we've had arguments and there's been a few times I've ended up in tears (usually at a certain time of the month :P), but in spite of that, and in spite of tiny flaws in both of us we both love each other more than ever before.

All of that to say (especially to my single friends), marriage is so so worth it. If you're ready to be married, then I would say "Go for it, and don't let anyone else discourage you with their words of 'reality' and negativity"

So Many Changes

Well, I got engaged on November 7th, and just under 4 months later I got married on March 5th!
It was a fabulous day, and loads of fun!
I won't do a proper wedding post coz pretty much everyone that reads this blog was at the wedding, but the day went so well.
My bridesmaids had all different colour dresses in bright colours (orange/yellow, royal blue, bright green, bright red, light purple, bright pink, and bright blue), and we were on time for pretty much everything!!
We were a couple of minutes early to the church, and a couple of minutes early to the reception. I was really chuffed about this coz we caught a few people by surprise coz they all expected the bride to be late, but I love being on time for things. It was very fitting :D
The only bad thing about the day was that I'd gotten my Mum to lace my wedding dress up too tight, so I ended up in a fair bit of pain by the time we got to the reception. However, a quick trip with a couple of my bridesmaids to the toilet, and that was all fixed!
It was actually a great relief that it was only my dress because I'd been worrying that I was having an asthma attack or something (similar pain).
We had two photoshoots (one before the reception, and one after), and they were so so much fun. A very lighthearted time. Our photographer Alan Millhouse was excellent, and really good and fun to work with.
Overall, an excellent day!

My Current Facebook Status...

Julia Graham has coffee & chocolate... 'Taste & see that the Lord is good' :P

In case you couldn't guess, I love coffee & chocolate :D and I think that they were made for each other!

Challenge: Day 2

Okay, so it's actually Day 3 of my challenge, but I didn't have time to post a photo yesterday after I finally took a photo. So, you'll get two posts from me today :-o

This isn't actually what I wore all day yesterday, but I didn't want to change and make my little sister take another photo. I was actually wearing a thick, long-sleeved yellow shirt (more like a jumper) for most of the day, but I changed just before Recharge (young adults Bible study) because it's notoriously too warm there. However, this was the one time that I came prepared and yet, I had to leave my jacket on because it was a normal temperature :P (typical, typical... the one time I'm prepared...)

Ummmm...

Yeah, it's been awhile since I've posted... :-|

Anyway, I've decided to do something a bit different (for me) and blog about the different outfits I wear. Only, this will only be on the days that I wear a skirt or dress, and the skirt or dress will be a different one each time until I finish going through all my skirts and dresses. Sound good? Tough luck if it doesn't, coz I'm going to do it anyway :P

Let's go...

This is the outfit that I started out the day in......

And due to a FREEZING.COLD.house.....

This is what I've looked like instead for pretty much the whole day (minus the crazy eyes :P)

Housesitting Again!

Like the title says, I've been house-sitting again :D
This time I've been house-sitting for my sister while she's been away, and I've really really enjoyed it.
She has a beautiful house, and is so well-organized that it was really easy to look after the house.
I house-sat with Elyse, and we drank copious amounts of coffee. We had 1-2 cups a day :P

I loved having space to myself and getting to decide what we were eating for tea, and how much time I could spend on the computer.
I actually enjoyed having to be responsible and make myself do things. It was really a nice feeling of accomplishment to do the right thing and know that no one else had 'made' me :)

I hope I'm able to do it again (hint hint, Kristy :P)

Wow...

Is it really only the 12th of March?

It seems so much further along in the year...

Maybe it's because this year has already been jam-packed in 2 1/2 short months.

So far this year I have: (please note that this list is limited by my memory :P)

• Started a courtship with an amazing guy
• Been to two weddings
• Waitressed at one
• Been to a Music Team BBQ
• Started leading at youth group
• Started back leading Kids' Bible Study with Josh
• Started back at Recharge
• Started back at Music Practice (and singing on Sundays)
• Started back at piano lessons
• Started another year of TAFE
• And found out that I only have to go into TAFE one day a week (Woohoo!!)
• Organized to catch up with my mentor every two weeks (and stuck to it so far)
• Had my first Valentine's Day with my boyfriend :)
• Helped the Burfords move
• Led on youth camp
• Been blessed to see my little brother grow in God
• Pushed myself too hard, gotten overwhelmed, and broken down in tears twice (in one week)
• Been blessed by my friends, family etc giving me love and leniency when I'm tired and overwhelmed
• Helped Faye and Alex move
• Been amazingly blessed by the thoughtfulness of my boyfriend on so many occasions
• Struggled to find time to balance everything
• Struggled to balance my computer time so that I can balance everything else
• Struggled to find time to catch up with friends
• Been hugely blessed when I have found the time to catch up with friends
• Been blessed by the freedom and trust given to me by my parents
• Realized that I can't do everything on my own; I need God to help me
• Realized that it's okay to say 'no' (still working on this one though)

I've had my ups, and I've had my downs. And yet, I know that through it all God has been there. I know that there are people so much worse off than me. I know that I am so blessed, and that I will always have my needs provided by my Heavenly Father. He loves me, and wants me to run to Him for my strength. He wants to fill me up and use me for His glory. I know that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Phil 4:13), but that I need to turn to Him instead of relying on myself or others.

I'm still learning (thank goodness! I'd be worried if I was perfect :P), but I know I am stronger with God by my side :)