White Christmas

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas:
Snow's been coming regularly now. One of BearHunter's jobs is shoveling sidewalks at our facility and around the adjacent church building. Since all other staff are gone for the Christmas break, BearHunter shovels alone these days. I did help him once, just cuz I thought it would be fun. Some days after he digs out all the walkways, by late afternoon the strong winds have drifted snow right back on top, deeper than they were in the morning. He also had the fun of driving a snow plow! A friend came to donate an old table to the YWAM base and plowed the driveway for us while he was here. He let BearHunter get behind the wheel and experiment a bit. This was happening after 10 at night. Plowing seems to know no bedtime.

Feeling Baby:
For two mornings in a row this week I found that I could locate my baby - it's on my right side. But I knew that from the first month. This week it felt like a tennis ball in my abdomen when I laid on my stomach...but only in the mornings. I think my innerds relax and settle during the night. One morning in particular this tight little wad would move around in my belly. I didn't feel any "kicking" sensation, just funky movement and could tell with my hand that the little ball wasn't where it just was! Pretty cool. The Hubbie has a harder time feeling it, he's afraid to press too hard.

Christian Emotions:
We heard a great sermon last Sunday. Main thing I want to relay to you is the necessity of emotion in a Christian faith. Some people fear emotionalism (emotions for the sake of emotions) among fanatical Christians. But to have a stoic faith, a salvation of only your mind is not really salvation. The pastor read from a book which I can't recall the title now, but it read something to the effect of this: Can you truly know the damnation of your sins and feel nothing? Can you claim to know and receive God's love without some joyous and happy response? What have you been saved from if only your mind is aware of it?
Our minds weren't headed for hell alone without our souls. Rather, our whole person has been saved and is being changed. So our response to God is with our body, soul (mind, will and emotions), and spirit. And all three are part of your person and are interconnected.

Landed in Alaska

We arrived safely on Thursday morning to our new hometown. We had only a few hours sleep the night before, due to snow storms causing our flights to be delayed. But a very friendly host picked us up at the airport at 1:30 and returned us there by 7:15. So we were able to stay in a real home for the brief evening. Hopefully next time we're in town, we'll be able to spend more time getting to know this neat family.

We moved into our room on the base. They gave us the "nook" which is a T shaped room with an elevated nook. BearHunter was immediately excited to make that his little reading or writing space. We moved furniture around and found a layout we like. Turns out we'll need to buy a few household supplies to get our room all ready, but it's a cute spot. Right now it's barely below freezing temps and it's light out between 9:30am and around 5pm I think.

Walking is our way of getting around town. So Saturday we made a few trips around the town, by foot, carrying our new pillows, mirror, laundry soap, etc. My hips hurt! But I think that's the pregnancy talking.

Pregnancy Update: I'm still feeling great, as I have been for the last few weeks. I have energy most days and no nausea. I still have some breast tenderness. And my urine volume is massive. Happily, it doesn't wake me up during the night yet. This is my last week of first trimester. I'm looking forward to my skin clearing up sometime soon. And my belly is showing a bit more all the time. I feel fat, but know I'm not supposed to diet. I'm buying my own soymilk to help me drink enough calcium. At the school here we're allowed just one glass of milk each morning (usually used for cereal). So I have a personal stash of cereal and soymilk for breaks. The last week or more I've had a dramatic increase in my appetite as well. I found myself wanting breakfast or lunch AGAIN just a few minutes after eating it. So when I have the chance to eat, I'm eating more to try to make it last a bit longer in my stomach.

Baby Shower

It's early for a baby shower, I'm only 13 weeks along. However, since I'm moving out of state, it seemed the best time to have a shower with my friends in California. Otherwise, there wouldn't be a chance. A group of girlfriends from church came to celebrate our pregnancy. We spent time talking and hanging out, eating, playing games, opening cards and gifts, and praying. I loved having the time to chill with these friends, since I've been out of town most of the last two months. One gift, seen in the picture, was a little red knitted hat (with bears on it) that BearHunter's mom saved from his toddlerhood and gave to us. Sorry the pictures is sideways, I don't know how to change that!