Memory Lane

Yesterday we went through some boxes that have been in our basement since the move (and probably haven't been opened before the last three moves). Jonathan stumbled upon a box of "Amy stuff", including letters, pictures, and things I had sent him through our dating years.
We started going through the box and then I went and found my own "Jonathan collection". We probably spent two hours going through piles of things. We didn't even come close to reading everything (there were piles and piles), but we still found some treasures. Here are a few of the highlights that we got a kick out of...

The Beginning: The fall of 1999: Amy attends Jonathan's youth group and they exchange email addresses on small pieces of paper. The best part...you read correctly....my family had "integrity online" - please tell me someone remembers those days of old:)! It was even a family account. It was our first form of communication. HA! I can't believe we both held on to these treasures.
This picture is one that Jonathan had in his box - a picture given to him of my little brother, Ethan. I think Eth must have been in 4th grade. He truly did grow up with Jonathan in the picture from the very beginning. Ethan's now a junior in high school and is 6 ft & still growing.
A personal favorite item, this is a valentine that Leah, my sister, must have given Jonathan during one of the first few years of us dating. Leah was in 8th grade when Jonathan came into my life, so maybe she wrote this as a 9th grader? Check it out (I hope you can read it).Here is the first (horrible) birthday card Jonathan gave me. It's only horrible because it was during the month of my junior year when he decided we shouldn't be dating. The card was covered in smiley faces and said something like "you make me happy". He has gotten a lot of grief for that ridiculous card through the years. We found it in the box.During our two years of long-distance dating, Jonathan attended a church that sent out free encouragement postcards each week. I am pretty sure he sent me one every week during his time at CWU. I kept them all. I think the one on top has some coded message puzzle. They were great.Here are copies of emails I sent to Jonathan. As you can see, there were tons!
This summer we'll hit the 10th anniversary of the day we met at Dan & Shelley's wedding in June 1999 (technically, we didn't "meet" because we never talked - but it was the first time we noticed each other) Here is the big moment...love at first sight:). He's the one on the right, singing.Okay, last picture, our first official date. February 11, 2000. Lewis & Clark Valentine's Dance. Wow:)!

My Favorite Thing

I really don't know if there is anything I like more than xc skiing. Seriously. I don't know what it is about it. The stillness and quite. The scenery. The exercise (which is undercover, by the way). Maybe it's the feeling of absolute escape...like you're miles and miles away, even when you're not that far from home. Whatever the reason (or all of them, I'm sure), I LOVE xc skiing.

If you haven't tried it, you should.
If you have tried it and don't like it, I'm not sure we can be friends.
If you ever want to go with me, just give me a call and I will undoubtedly agree to join you.
If you can't decide, just look at these pictures and maybe you'll make up your mind...

The Bump

I have had over two weeks off from teaching. Why is it that it is Sunday, January 4th, the day before I am to return to my job, that I am finally posting pictures from the last month!? It's probably the same reason I am sitting down to lesson plan/grade today. Yikes! It has been a terrific break:). I'll start by posting the latest baby bump pic.
I am now 22 weeks along and have been feeling the baby kick quite a lot lately - which is pretty incredible. There is something about actually feeling the baby move that makes all of this even more real than seeing pictures of the baby. Still, I'll include a few of the ultrasound pictures as well. We went the the doctor earlier in December when I was 18 weeks along. From what they could see, everything looks good. I'm glad they are the professionals. I could distinguish some of the bones/body parts, but at one point I thought we were looking at the face when it was actually the baby's heart. I'll trust their expertise:).I feel truly blessed to have had a relatively uneventful pregnancy thus far. I definitely have more energy than I did during the first trimester, and I'm not too huge yet so I'm not uncomfortable. I know that it's just a matter of time until that changes!

Many of you know this already, but we're not finding out whether we're having a boy or a girl. I have gone back and forth on this (most recently the day before our ultrasound I tried to convince Jonathan that we did, in fact, need to know), but I feel good about being surprised at this point. It is strange mentally preparing for it and going back and forth, convincing myself that it must be a girl, then a boy, then a girl, then a boy, etc. Jonathan keeps reminding me that it is still a 50% chance either way, so in the end, how can I really convince myself that it's truly one or the other? The truth is I have NO idea. Stay tuned...I'm sure we'll try every old wives' tale in the book (dangling the wedding ring, heartbeat info, etc.) and maybe we'll post about it and take bets. Hmmm. Which will it be? :)