Walk to Emmaus

Many of you know that I’ve spent the past year or so questioning and grappling with the concept of Christianity and wondering how that fit into my life and views, if at all. Many of you also know that I spent this past weekend participating in the Walk to Emmaus, but most of you don’t really know what that is or what that means. To be honest, I’m not even positive that *I* knew what that meant before going. What I did know is that the Walk was a spiritual weekend designed to help you create/nurture/reignite your relationship with God and Jesus. What I also knew is that Jared had participated in a Walk last September and returned a much better person than I could have ever imagined—and I didn’t even think he needed improvement before he left!! He came home with an incredible attentiveness to me and a desire to put me first, instead of himself. His Walk has improved our marriage exponentially—again, something that I didn’t even think needed improvement. And so I thought, if Jared’s strengthened relationship with God could have such a wonderful affect on our lives, how good could it be if I participated in a Walk and strengthened my relationship with the Lord as well? And so I went.

I should preface all of this by saying that I am completely out of my comfort zone right now. I’ve always felt that spirituality and religion is a very private thing, and should be respected as such (so with that being said, maybe you didn’t know that I’d been grappling with all of this in the past year). So I generally don’t talk openly about this kind of stuff for a variety of reasons— because I don’t have the answers to all the questions, because up until recently I have been very “on the fence” as to what I believed, and because I know religion can be touchy and sometimes not accepted by people and I didn’t want to be unaccepted by those that were close to me for fear that I’d become a “Jesus freak”. But one of the things I learned this weekend is that sometimes we are called out of our comfort zone, even though it’s tough for us to leave it. And since I have just recently started this blog, and even more recently sent out thank-you cards to family and friends with this website address in it, what better way was there for me to spread the word on the most recent change in my life?

The Walk to Emmaus symbolizes the walk taken by 2 of Jesus’s disciples with the risen Christ on their way from Jerusalem to Emmaus. At first, the disciples did not realize that their new friend accompanying them was in fact the risen Christ, as most of us don’t realize that we are accompanied by Christ in our daily lives as well. Upon arriving at Emmaus, the disciples’ eyes were opened and their relationship with Christ as reignited. The Walk to Emmaus weekend has a similar objective—to rediscover Christ and God in your life. So that’s the basis of it.

Like I said before, I was kind of unsure of what to expect. Your contact with the outer world is pretty much cut off from Thursday evening to Sunday evening. No cell phones and no watches or even clocks in any of the rooms. You never knew what time you were waking up or going to bed, but surprisingly, it didn’t matter because you are completely taken care of the entire time you are there. Even more surprising, when you first arrive at home, you are dismayed to hear your cell phone ring and to see that clock on the wall reminding you that it’s bed time because you have to get up early for work tomorrow. Much of the Walk involves listening to a lot of talks about Christ, your relationship with Him and how you can continue to strengthen and nurture that relationship as you go through life. We had a lot of discussions about the talks, which was helpful in understanding other people’s ideas and sometimes, understanding your own ideas. There was of course, a lot of singing and dancing, which I’m not such a huge fan of. Apparently, since high school and college, I’ve become somewhat shy and was even described as reserved. (Go figure!) I just don’t feel the need to do hand gestures/dances every time we sing a song. The same way I don’t feel the need to hold hands and sway every time there are no gestures for that particular song. So what if I can stop a swaying line of people like no other. It’s not my style, and though you might get mocked for it (out of love, of course), it’s completely ok.

The underlying theme of the weekend? You are loved. You are loved by Christ, you are loved by God, you are loved by your family and friends, and you are loved by others that don’t even know you, but merely know you as a brother or sister in this kingdom. Pretty crazy, and it sounds simple, but it’s a tough concept to grasp. I, for one, didn’t understand why God would love/could love each and every individual as much as He does, even the ones who don’t *know* Him. And two intelligent people made a very solid point to me—how much do I love this little nugget that I’ve been carrying around in my abdomen for the past 37 weeks and 3 days, even though I don’t technically know her either? Touché.

Now I’m sure the fact that I went on such a Walk when we’re about to experience such a monumental change in our lives had a lot to do with the way I interpreted everything this weekend and the feelings and message I brought home with me. Do I think that’s a coincidence? Not at all. Because now not only will our daughter come into this world with a father who has a solid relationship with Christ, but a mother who has one as well (well, it’s a work in progress!). I’d say she’s off to a pretty good start! :)

I can bet that there are a lot of you who are reading this and thinking, “Wow. What happened to Gina?” and are perhaps wondering if I’m not going to be as fun anymore. Not to worry, my friends. I’m not going to start knocking door to door to introduce people to God. Nor will I try to coerce you into a relationship with Him whenever we talk. I'm even up for a good debate about evolution, because let's face it, I'm a biologist and there are some things that I'm not sure I accept (for instance-- dinosaurs and people on earth at the same time?? C'mon now.) And if you ask if I want to meet up at Happy Hour for a beer (or two or three), I most certainly won’t decline! (After the baby is born, that is.) I’m still me. I’m just a happier, more gracious, more accepting, feeling like she is blessed more than she could have ever imagined version of me. And hopefully next time we hang out, you won’t be thinking “Wow, what happened to Gina?” in a leery sort of way, but maybe in a she really seems happy and her and Jared have really got it together sort of way.

So that was my weekend. I thank all of you who sent letters—they touched me deeply, and I have been continuing to read one each day. It’s a good way to wake up each morning.

In unrelated news—we have another doctor’s appointment tomorrow and will be having our final ultrasound. We’ll keep you posted on what the doctor says, when this little girl’s expected arrival is, etc.

Love and hugs and peace to all.

Bosley's Debut!

The pets and I got to hang out with our good friend Mia on Saturday. Mia was a huge fan of the cats and dogs, and the cats and dogs were... intrigued, we'll say, by her. They certainly didn't understand why there was so much gleeful shrieking and excited dancing going on (by me, not Mia... just kidding!). Paka and Rowdy were extremely docile and ok with any sort of interaction, gentle or not. Heidi was a bit more uneasy, probably as a result of being scarred from that screaming little kid in our apartment complex when she was a wee pup. And Bosley... well, though he didn't want to be touched, you can see from the photos below that his curiosity kept getting the best of him! You know what they say about curiosity and cats...



Bosley scoping out the situation...

Now just what is going on in here? A tub filled with water? And WHY is she SITTING in it?!?!?






C'mon in, Bosley!












And yes, I realize these are naked pictures of somebody else's child. But to prevent myself from feeling like a sex offender, I checked with her parents and got the ok. So there.

Oh me, Oh my

Well, we've officially reached the less than one month mark. Yowsers!

In an effort to prevent extreme sloth-ness, Jared and I try to take 3 mile walks a couple times a week. We walk to the end of our road, so that the dogs can go swimming in the bayou. It's tiring, but seeing as how I'm an office rat, I need the exercise. The humorous part is that I can never even come close to walking the whole distance without taking at least one pit stop along the way... I think I must pee outside more than any other pregnant woman! But I digress... the photos below are from this evening's walk. I'm pretty stinkin' tired, as I hardly slept the night before and it's quite warm outside, so I don't look quite as "fresh" as I'd like. So it goes. Enjoy!

36 weeks

As Jared likes to say, the elastic on my pants are screaming. This is what it looks like when you wear non-maternity clothes when you're 8.5 months pregnant.

And just for fun, I thought I'd throw in a picture from our ice-skating trip this past December. Look at that waist!!...*sigh*

Bring it on

In all the pregnancy books I've read, they say that the baby's birth weight is directly related to the *mother's* birth weight. (The father supposedly has no influence on this whatsoever, which is great for some people I know!) This information pleased me greatly, as I was quite the teeny little baby when I was born, popping out at 5 lbs and 13 oz. I can easily handle a 5-6 lb baby. However, we had another ultrasound done on Thursday and were informed that our fetus is already weighing in at 4lbs and 14 oz, and she's still got 6 more weeks to grow!! Granted, there's some room for error, but the error is not large enough for me to entertain the idea of a teeny baby anymore. (Unless of course she were born this week.) They figured out her weight by measuring her head, femur, and abdomen and then averaging those numbers together. Jared so kindly pointed out that the head was the largest of ALL these numbers, and it was the femur and abdomen measurements that were bringing the average down. So am I nervous? A little bit. But people give birth every day, and to be honest, I'm kind of looking forward to taking on the challenge. And I'm looking forward to the challenges and joys that being a parent will offer. Besides, Paka is tired of not being able to take cat naps on my stomach anymore. So we're ready.... we've just got 6 more weeks to wait. :)

4th of July Festivities

We celebrated 4th of July by parking our truck in the Kroger parking lot and setting up our grill and some chairs. Nothing like eating a bunch of hot dogs and s'mores while watching fireworks with the rest of the town.

Our set up. Talk about convenient. We were able to pick up some marshmallows and hot dogs right there in the grocery store.














Jared working the grill.

Jared thinks it's funny to take pictures of me stuffing my face.

Anxiously awaiting the fireworks. What's bizarre is that even though the place was packed, we were the only ones there with a grill. Everybody else just sat there for a good hour and a half, jealous of the scrumptious snacks we had. What can we say, we learned how to tailgate RIGHT at Delaware.

Our new friend!

Jared found this little guy wandering around our yard the other day.

We could both use some work on our smiles.

Preparing for the wee one

We spent a long time turning the back room of the house into the nursery. The dogs were wondering what all the fuss was about...

So here are the baby's room photos, from start...

...to finish!

Close up of the quilt.

Cute little cow, lamb and chicks. :)

Pregnancy photos!

Some belly shots for you to see. Although, a bunch of these are quite outdated at this point, but worth including, I suppose.

12 weeks pregnant and look at Heidi's dancing skills!! She's very excited.
















20 weeks-- I just popped! Rowdy is trying to entice me to play fetch, unsuccessfully.













Here I am towards the end of my 2nd trimester-- 27 weeks pregnant. I seem a bit uneasy about the protrusion, don't you think?
















The weekend of June 15th was a very shower-filled weekend, as I had the Ewald family baby shower on Saturday and the Judy family baby shower on Sunday. It was hectic, but I feel incredibly lucky to have so many people who are wanting to "shower" us with well-wishes.

Awwww!!! Doesn't the little baby look cute in her new outfit??
















For some reason, there always seem to be pinatas at my showers. Perhaps I have some hidden Mexican heritage that my family is trying to tell me about. If nothing else, it's always entertaining to take a very pregnant girl, give her a bat, blindfold her, spin her around until she has no idea which way is which, and then tell her to swing wildly while you stand back and laugh.... right? Right.





I think I killed it.
















Here's a picture of the Ewald girls, minus 2... well, technically minus 1, b/c the other missing chica is sorta in the photo by way of my belly, but still, we're missing Amanda! *sigh* I look forward to the time when I can be a skinny-minny like Jess again... (does that ever happen?)

I stole this photo from my sister-in-law Jenn's blog, but I don't think she'd mind! This picture was taken at my Judy family shower, back on Father's Day. (Notice the beautiful garden behind us!) All three of us ladies are knocked up and are due in consecutive months. From left to right, the due dates are August 18th, September 18th and October 17th. I've obviously schooled them as far as the most protruding belly contest goes.

I had ANOTHER shower (yay for showers!) thrown by my lovely friends from church last week, but I haven't seen those photos yet. (Ahem, Paige. That's right, I'm calling you out!) :)

Firestarter

Look at my hubby on the 4-wheeler to the left. He's a certified wildland firefighter, so he gets to play with prescribed burns quite often. (I'd call it work, but they all love it so much that it's more like play-time for grown men.) And the cool part is that they get to LIGHT the fire with these nifty drip torches, as opposed to put it out. AND these burns are generally done on preserves throughout the state, so they get to travel to some cool places too. How is that not fun?

A trip from Octobers past...

Back in October, Jared and I loaded up our horses and spent 2 weeks wandering the "wilds" of West Texas. We stayed at a few of The Nature Conservancy Preserves, Big Bend National Park, and at a few other unexpected locations. It was pretty much the coolest trip I've ever been on, and though it was stressful to be hauling two horses across the state in an old trailer, it was well worth it. Granted, I wasn't the one driving, so maybe Jared feels differently. He kept referring to the trip as our "Last hurrah"... little did I know, he was right! Well, sort of. We'll just be having different kinds of hurrahs now. At any rate, it was fun and it certainly made me love my horsey more.

Independence Creek Preserve was our first main stop on the trip. We were pretty psyched to get there, particularly since the night before we had camped at a truck-stop on the side of the I-10. (Long story, but a funny memory for both of us... maybe not for Rosie and Cheyenne!) The preserve is pretty much an oasis in what is otherwise considered the scrubby desert. There's a really clear creek that runs through the preserve (hence the name), and as a result, much of the wildlife in the area congregates there, so there was lots for us to see!





The horses are still unsure of this so-called "adventure" we've brought them along on. Rosie looks extra sleepy and Cheyenne just appears annoyed. They might not be showing it in this photo, but they were really having a good time. Honest. Well... I think.







Ahh, Davis Mountains Preserve. *sigh* This was by far my favorite stop and it was the place where we spent the most time. Our cabin is the building in the meadow, and the meadow is in the middle of a valley surrounded by mountains. We had a separate corral for the horses to stay in and we went on daily trail rides in the mountains. (Unless we were too sore-- and that goes for all 4 of us!)




We spent most of our days on horseback here. In three simple words, it was awesome. The girls were very well-behaved and much more willing than I expected them to be. And the scenery was quite aesthetically pleasing as well! Jared says I romanticize this place too much, but I don't think so. Given the opportunity, I think I'd move there in a second.







This little piggy did not make it to market. This particular preserve has a really bad problem with feral hogs, and though they set out traps on a daily basis for them, the hogs are rarely caught and killed. They root up around trees and kill a lot of the vegetation that way. In some places, that's not a big deal, but when you get very little rainfall each year, it takes MUCH longer for things to grow back. While driving around one morning, we spotted this guy enjoying the morning sunlight, so much so that he didn't even realize we were there. Jared (excitedly so) took advantage of the opportunity to practice some invasive species control. Bye bye little piggy.





Big Bend was the last of our major stops on our adventure. The park claims to be horse-friendly, but the horse designated trails were much narrower and steeper than we (and the girls!) preferred AND we had to pack-in, pack-out all of the horse poo. Not so easy, my friend. Not so easy.





This "little" guy was trying to cross the road in the park in search of some "loving", shall we say. We got excited because he was the first one we'd seen on this trip. By the time we left the park, I think our tarantula count was up to 12. Pretty cool!!