July Ramblings

I promised I'd do my best to be more regular about posting on our blog, so here is our update for July!

As Nick liked to put it, his first week of work was his first week of vacation! His official start date was July 1, so he headed into the office July 2. However, the office was officially closed that week due to Independence Day (and the fact that nobody wants to be in Arizona in the middle of summer). He did spend a few days in the office, getting to know the staff and getting his office set up, and then was able to take it easy for a few more days.

Installation Day

The big event in the beginning of July was Nick's installation as Associate Pastor at Hosanna. Although we had been attending there for a few weeks since our move, he was not official until the service. Even after Call Day, graduation, and ordination (for each of which I get more and more pregnant), he was STILL not completely official! So installation was a big deal, and another exciting moment as we got to see Nick completely in his role as pastor of this church after his installation, which included leading communion and the rest of the church service that day. It was the last of all the ceremonies and celebrations, and I think we're both glad to settle into normal life now! The church was extremely kind and had a cake reception to follow, a huge gift basket full of Arizona goodies for us, and then the senior pastor and his wife hosted a lunch after that at their house. It was fun for our families to get to know some of the people at Hosanna and for us to not to have to cook!

That weekend was also really fun because our families drove to Arizona to visit our house for the first time and be there for the installation service. We were lucky that the love seat we bought, which had been on backorder, arrived just several hours before our families, so we actually had a decent amount of seating for the two of us, both sets of parents and Nick's brother, Tony. It was fun to hang out together that weekend. Nick's dad helped us figure out some of the quirks of our house (like which light switches control what!) and make some repairs, as well as to get Nick's new grill (a graduation/ordination/Call Day present) set up. Tony was a wonderful extra set of hands in helping Nick put together Josiah's crib. We spent a morning at the Farmer's Market in Gilbert even though it was HOT (I know, Phoenix in July, right? But still, it was especially hot!). And we had time to just chat, play games, and watch movies.

Tony and Nick putting Josiah's crib together

Hedgie watching TV with us

Of course, I can't mention that weekend without introducing the newest member of our family! I know what you're thinking - Josiah isn't due until September! And you're right. Josiah is still patiently waiting to make his arrival, thank goodness. BUT we did get to welcome a cat into our little family for the first time since getting married! If you know me, you know that I adore cats, and the past four years, moving around to apartments and houses that don't allow pets, have been slightly disappointing in that regard. We decided that with a baby on the way, a kitten was probably not the smartest choice, so we chose to adopt a well-trained, mature cat instead. Thankfully, my parents' house had several to choose from, so when they drove to Arizona for installation weekend, they brought one of my favorite cats, Hedgie, along with them. Although slightly frightened by the long drive and the strange people in our house upon her arrival, prompting her to spend all her time those first few days finding all the hiding places, she has adjusted pretty well to living with us. She still spends the majority of her day sleeping under our bed upstairs (so much for my dream of having company while I'm home alone all day), but she likes to venture out to join us as we watch TV in the evenings and sleep on my pregnancy pillow at night.

Alas, our families had to return home, and Nick began going into the office daily, and the routines set in. Except we had another adventure! Here in Arizona, we are in the heart of monsoon season. I had heard a little about this, that we would get inches of rain in a matter of minutes, there may be flooding, etc. But I was unprepared for the actual result. It began with a full out haboob, or dust storm, a few days before Nick's installation. I did not witness it, but saw some cool pictures. That mostly did not affect us. However, the day after our families returned home, I was home and saw another alert for a storm coming through. I watched through the windows and saw clouds that looked pretty red spreading through the sky. Nick was on his way home from work, I warned him to be careful, but he didn't see anything crazy. Suddenly, the wind started, then the rain, then the hail. It was a major thunderstorm coming through, preceded by the dust. I watched as it poured down rain and hail for minutes on end. Mind you, I've lived in Missouri for four years, so I'm not a stranger to big storms. This one was more intense than I've seen in quite a while. I called Nick again when the hail started, saying "I sure hope you're parked somewhere safe right now." However at that point, he was not in the storm, so decided to drive home through it. Thankfully he made it home safely (and our car already had hail damage from living in Missouri, so I wasn't so concerned about that), and we watched the rest of the storm pass through together. The end result? Our backyard was filled with inches of water and ice for hours, because it takes a while to drain here. A tree behind our property fell over, damaging our back fence and our neighbor's roof - thankfully it was not our tree, so Walgreens, who owns that land, took care of the problem. We were thankful to not have any other damage to our house aside from a bit of water leaking in at the windows, because later, as we walked around the neighborhood, we saw that it could've been much worse. Trees were down all over the place, even a light pole or two. We saw the reason for all the large grassy basins around the city, because they were all full of water for several days. The hail was piled up in places. It was quite an adventure, and we are thankful that we and our house are safe and unharmed - and we've been told that usually we only get one big storm like that per season, so hopefully we won't see anything like it again anytime soon.

Our backyard filled with rain and hail

The tree that knocked down part of our back fence

In July we also celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary! It's hard to believe that we've been married four years, but it's also fun to look back and see how much we've grown and learned over the years. We were gifted a surprise gift by Nick's mom that allowed us to go out and celebrate in style at the Melting Pot - a favorite restaurant of ours that is usually out of our price range. So we enjoyed our last fancy dinner before children together as we celebrated four years of marriage.

It took a few weeks of Nick working, but we have slowly settled into a routine. I enjoy having the free time to cook breakfast and pack him a lunch in the morning after we go for a walk, since I don't have to rush off to work (or anything else for that matter). There were a few rough days in which I was so bored out of my mind, I was ready to walk over to Walgreens and ask for a job, but I've found things to occupy my time at home, especially as Josiah's due date gets closer (also, daily naps take up a good amount of time!). I usually drop Nick off at work one day a week so I can run errands while he's at work, but we also enjoy going to do those things together after he gets home from work. After dinner, we often spend some time watching TV together or go swimming. Nick has led two Sunday services completely on his own, since the senior pastor and his wife are on vacation. Right now on Sundays, I go with him early since there is only one church service for the summer, and spend that time in his office, reading, while he prepares for the service. It's been good to be able to find this little routine in the summer, when it's not too busy, although I know that things will change quickly in the next few weeks as the school year starts up and church gets busier.

Got to be my sister's +1 for a wedding!

Of course, we had barely gotten into this routine when I took a few days' vacation to California! My mom and sister decided to throw me a baby shower when my sister was in town for a friend's wedding, so I flew to California as well for the weekend. The nice thing is that a direct flight from Phoenix to Fresno is only about two hours, so I don't have to spend hours on hours traveling like I did from St. Louis. It was fun to enjoy this time with my family. We spent a few days at the beach, which was SO amazing to get a break from the heat and actually be able to enjoy spending time outside, because the weather was just perfect. Karina and I got to attend her friend's wedding, which was fun and beautiful, and being on the coast, the weather was so enjoyable. Then it was back to the Central Valley, but we got to spend some time also with my brother, my grandpa, aunt and cousins too, who I hadn't seen in a while. Sunday was baby shower day! I had friends from high school, people from church growing up, and people from both sides of my family attend, so it was such a sweet and enjoyable day. It was a perfect little vacation, but of course I missed Nick and Hedgie a lot too, so I was glad to come home to Arizona when it was over.

Baby clothes are just the CUTEST

The other notable event for July was that I reached the third trimester of pregnancy! At this point, we go from monthly doctor visits to check-ups every other week, so it's been good to have a pretty free schedule, since we have to fit that in. It's also involved a glucose test (which I failed), a repeat glucose test (good news on that one, I passed!), and some growth ultrasounds to check to make sure Josiah is growing since I continue to measure pretty small (I have to keep convincing people that yes, I am ___ weeks pregnant). We also took a tour of the hospital where we will deliver, are reading up on everything we can find, and including some classes into our schedule as well. This last week included purchasing a stroller as well as a dresser, so I can get Josiah's room as set up and organized as possible. There are more and more things to do to prepare for his arrival, and we are so excited to meet our little boy! Thankfully, I have still been feeling fantastic, with only occasional aches and maladies to bother me. Josiah continues to be extremely active, finding ways to move and kick me I never knew were possible, but I enjoy every minute of it.

Third Trimester - 28 weeks - July 1

Apparently I have conveyed my lack of socialization during the day through this blog post, since one fairly uneventful month has turned into three pages of rambling stories and information. But hey, I just killed about an hour of my day in writing this, so I'd say that's a plus for me. Thank you to those of you who faithfully read about our normal, everyday lives. A bigger thank you to those of you who pray for us on a regular basis. Please continue to pray for a healthy pregnancy, for our marriage as we continue to settle into this new place, and for Nick as he begins his ministry at Hosanna. We are so thankful for all of you.

In the name of Christ our Savior,

Nick and Mikaela Duerr