A year here

Wow, it's hard to believe that this week mark's our first year in Arkansas.
So many new experiences, so much has changed in our lives. I wish that I could say that it was been a wonderful experience, that we've found "our place", that this is where I want to be for the rest of my life.
I came into this knowing that it would be hard - not really knowing anyone, small town, different culture, etc.... I wasn't dreading it, I just knew that it would be hard - not in a pessemistic way either.
Well, I confess, it has been a really difficult year for me, particularly the last half. You know, the first six months are basically survival months, trying to figure out where everything is and how things work down here, lots of adventures. After those first six months, reality sinks in - "this is it?"
Compounded with the miscarriage, I was an angry person and God knew it. I felt like was on the verge of drowning in a sea of anger and bitterness - trust me when I say that I was pleading with God to change my heart - I don't ever want to be a bitter and angry person. And I know that my "problem" was with God and no one else.
I also know that in times like those, often it's learning to wait on God, work diligently on Pil 4:8 thinking and make myself - with the grace of the Holy Spirit - think about all of the things that I do have to be thankful for.

So, now I am happy to say that life is better than it was - in my attitude. I still have a long way to go toward saying that I am truly content - and I do want that - but, I know that God is faithfully working in my heart - despite my faithlessness to Him.
And I don't want anyone to think that I'm doing better because I'm pregnant - I don't want to come across as thinking that the pregnancy solved anything - I'm thankful that I had - by God's grace - decided before I knew that I was pregnant, that it would really be okay if I didn't get pregnant for a while.

In the end, I don't know how long God will have us here. Mark and I really do want to end up closer to our families, we know that that is in God's hands.

Nice visit

My parents came to visit last week. We had a wonderful time. They came down on Wednesday - so they were at our apt when I came back from work. We went to the infamous Burger Barn for dinner. Thursday morning, we headed up to pick Mark up at the airport - from his uneventful flight :o). We laid low the rest of the day and ad yummy vegetables from Indiana gardens for dinner. Friday afternoon, we headed down to Texarkana and had dinner at Zappata's - Mark's favorite!
I made breakfast Saturday morning and then Mom and Dad headed back be 10.
We had thought on Friday, that I had a leak in one of my tires (one of the new ones, of course). It was a fast leak, too. Upon further inspection, my detective father figured out that it was a broken valve cap - when he put it back on, you could here the air rushing out. Thankfully, that's all that it was, and 67 cents later, we have new valve caps and a full tire.
Thanks, Mom and Dad for everything we love you!!!

Pregnancy notes

I had a routine OB appt today. It worked out well because I had some spotting yesterday and this AM. My doctor did a pelvic and found a big cervical polyp. He said that that was the cause of my spotting. He sent it off and I'll call on Friday to see if results are in. Most polyps are benign, and frankly - I'm not too worried.
I didn't know if vacation would "do me in" as for weight gain - I've only gained 5 pounds in total - could be worse - all of that walking in New Haven and NYC saved me from more pounds, I'm sure.
As for Matthew Terry, we listened to his heart beat on the Doppler and the doctor was pleased.
I've been feeling Matthew on the inside moving around since about the fifteenth week. Just last Thursday or Friday I put my hand on my abd and felt him move. Mark got to feel him once last night, too. That is the fun part :o)
I have a little swelling in my feet from time to time; I thought that the nausea was all gone - but it's not - it's still not as bad as what it had been so I can't complain.
My next planned appt is Sept 7 - I will be finising my 27th week, Lord willing.
I think that I'm actually looking pregnant now - that's nice.

Pictures added

I added pictures of our journey to the entries.

Luggage returned

Just to update - I did receive my luggage yesterday afternoon.
One little thing that I didn't mention in the previous entry......somehow, I had misplaced my driver's license in the Harrisburg airport. I was convinced that it had fallen between the inner and outside liners of the suitcase - but I couldn't get it out. That was really the low point. I realized how difficult everything would be if I this itinerary didn't work out and I had to go through the whole process again.
Thankfully, I had my boarding pass by the time my license was gone - so the ticketing agent put a note on the boarding pass and I just had to have everything searched while going through security.
I was soooooo happy to be able to unzip the inner liner of the suitcase and see the license slide out!

Northwest Nightmare vs. Held Hostage by Northwest

I wasn't sure how to title this entry - so I put both on. I am sooooo happy to be in our apt!
I got back last night around 10pm - after my fifth itenerary in two days. It is a long and sad story - I won't bore you with all of it - just the highlights.
I was to fly out of Philly on Sunday - we confirmed the flight in the AM - it was "on". Mark's parents dropped me off in plenty of time it was a breeze at that point. An hour and a half before the flight - it was cancelled - that's when the craziness began. After "securing" my next flight for the next morning - I headed down to get my hotel voucher and luggage back - three hours to wait for my luggage, an hour on the phone to secure another flight for Monday because there was a miscommunication between NW and Delta and I was tired and in bed at the hotel by 10pm.
Got to the airport by 6:20 Monday - only to be told that my flight was again cancelled. The line was horrendous - I called the ticketing agent again and was told that they could get me back to AR the next day (today). At that point I asked him what other airports could I fly out of to get home that day - so, I took the Philly train to Amtrak and took that to Harrisburg - only about an hour south of Mark's parents.
Once I got there - again there was a glitch in the system and I was not booked for the flight that I was told about - I had been booked on another flight that had two Northwest connections after my flight to Cleveland. By this point, I was a wreck, I ended up going with that itenerary with much skepticism.
Thankfully, I arrived at LR at 8pm last night! My luggage, though, didn't make it out of Memphis - so I am waiting on that.
I pondered many things during this process - is it okay to cry (I did apologize to everyone that I broke down in front of - at least I could blame the pregnancy on that), am I making an idol out of wanting to go home, how is God making this work together for my good?
I am thankful for the kindess of strangers and sisters in Christ that I met in those two days - that was a blessing, I'm thankful for the safety that God provided, I'm thankful to have a wonderful, loving husand and family that were ready to do whatever to get me back to AR.

Princeton

Princeton is a nice town - the university area is very nice with lots of great shopping and restaurants. I asked Mark what the enrollment is like here - he said that it might not even be 35,000. If that's the case - Purdue is bigger. It certainly doesn't feel as big as Yale. Yale just seems huge.
I did the domestic thing yesterday - laundry at our hotel.
Pretty uneventful so far - which is fine. Apart from yesterday - and probably tomorrow - I spend my days in the Firestone library - checking e-mail and such and then heading a few back into the study room that has the new releases and best sellers along with several couches. I sit and read, and then around lunch time - I venture out across the street to the restaurants and shops. Mark and I have been heading back to the hotel at 7pm - we are able to take a shuttle from the hotel. We're heading back around 5 tonight.
Mark's parents are planning on driving over on Saturday. They'll spend the night and then take me down to Philly on Sunday to the airport. It'll be nice to spend some extra time with them - knowing that it might be a year or so before we are able to see them again.
I'm ready to get back to see the cats - not necessarily ready to go back to Arkansas or work. Reality.