Week 14 couldn't come any sooner

Today, marks the beginning of my 14th week of pregnancy and the beginning of my 2nd trimester. As excited as I am about the new person growing inside of me, I couldn't wait to get to this point. To me, the 2nd trimester is the most exciting part of being pregnant. At this point, you are more likely done with the nausea and sickness, which, thank goodness, is the case for me. And, from my previous experience, the final trimester was more uncomfortable than enjoyable.

With this 14th week, if am finally feeling better and have actually enjoyed food (some food, not all). Which is more than I could say just a week ago. The fatigue is still here, but I can deal with it. I was just hoping the nausea would go away so I wouldn't have to resort to taking any more pills than I have to. I was merely holding on for the 14th week to see what was going to happen.

I'm also excited about this stage of the pregnancy because I'll get to feel the baby for the first time in a few weeks and we'll get to see what we're having in early April. Matt and I really don't care what we have, as long as it's healthy and has 10 fingers and toes. Matt worries more about the baby being healthy because of his medical history, but I trust that God will take care of us regardless.

This week has been a little rough on me. Matt's been on a work trip since Sunday, thankfully returning tonight. I have to say, I am exhausted. Taking care of a 5-year old, 2 50-lbs dogs and the house work has left me pretty tired. I don't know how you it Natalie. And, work has been crazy busy with a handful of urgent projects along with lots of little ones that pop up. That's not even including my freelance work which has taken a hit. As soon as Matt gets home, I'll be glad to have someone to share the responsibilities with, and finally get some rest.

Money Clips

I happened across this clip on YouTube. It's the opening video our church used for a financial series titled "SmartMoney." If you're a Dave Ramsey fan, you can tell there's some influence.

The devastation at Union

Here are a few photos I've come across online that are a good representation of the damage at Union University after an F4 tornado tour through campus on Tuesday, February 5th around 7pm.


The building in this photo, Jennings Hall, marks the origin or touchdown of the tornado.


The clock tower, near Jennings Hall, marks the time the tornado came through the Union campus.


The men's dorm complex is located in the upper middle portion of this photo. The women's dorm is just opposite of it, toward the middle of the photo. The buildings are in a fan-like layout. Many of the individual buildings were completely destroyed, the rest have been tagged unlivable. The remains of the two larger buildings between the dorm complexes are the commons areas, men's and women's.

Matt lived in the farthest right and bottom building in the men's complex for two semesters. His room was in the bottom floor closest to the parking lot, on the right. My dorm room, freshman year, is located in the second building to the right also at the farthest end from the commons on the second floor.


McAffee Complex that sustaing the least damage of the dorm complexes. My dorm room, from my sophomore year on, is in the building on the lower left. Looks like it made it through the storm.


It didn't hit us until we started seeing photos of the students. Damage to buildings is one thing, but injured students is completely different.


Damage to student vehicles was extensive.

Tornadoes ripped through my alma mater

It's just crazy. Matt and I watched video of our university's dorms absolutely devastated by last nights tornado in Jackson, TN. The main extent of the damage was in the dorm areas, although some administrative and classrooms were affected too. I found this clip of Union's president assessing the damage this morning.

Tenn. university devastated by damage