Our first adventure as a married duo was flying to the middle of the Pacific for our honeymoon in Hawaii. John had been blessed to go there twice before, but it was Nicole’s first “international” flight and trip to the Island. We learned a lot about how to interact with one another as we were blessed to stay there for three long weeks! We rode tour buses with senior citizens, got lost on the city bus, wandered around tourism ridden Waikiki, kayaked in the ocean, camped in Kauai, feasted on wild mangoes, and enjoyed lots of pancakes with delicious coconut syrup! We came back refreshed and rested. Nicole was glad to back in the mountains she loves so much, John, however, wouldn’t have minded being stranded on the Island.
It is a good thing we got lots of rest in Hawaii, because it has been a whirlwind ever since we arrived home. Nicole was quite excited to start our home together, however, the Lord had different plans in mind for us than catering to our comfort. We discovered water damage to the floor in our 1920’s cabin. John and his brother Roy had to completely gut the kitchen and the bathroom, jack up the house, get rid of the mold, put down a vapor barrier, lay down a sub floor, and that was just the beginning! We have had a wonderful friend, Keith Greene, lay hardwood floors in the kitchen and tile in the bathroom. Our good friend Nate Spencer helped John paint the cabinets, and a neighbor offered his skills in sheet-rocking the bathroom. We have had to depend on the Lord every step of the way in this big project from where the money would come from to who would help us. He has provided. Not always on our time schedule, but that has been his wonderful way of teaching us patience (especially me, Nicole).
Our second big surprise came at the end of August when Nicole took a pregnancy test and it turned up positive! We are more than half-way through the first trimester and anxiously anticipating the lessening of nausea and crazy hormones as the second trimester approaches. We are so excited to be parents and can’t wait to find out if it’s a boy or girl.
When John isn’t working hard at the cabin, he has been building websites and putting together the 7th volume of Sermon Jams. This is an important volume for him as the “success” of it may depend on whether or not Sermon Jams will continue. He has thoroughly enjoyed the ministry the Lord gave him, and desires his will for it. The time and energy it takes to run the site, create the mixes, and respond to important e-mails however will be impossible to keep up without some kind of support. We are in the process of making a final attempt to really launch the site and to get some steady support, otherwise we move on to what the Lord has next. We trust in his wisdom.
Nicole has been spending lots of time pouring over pregnancy websites, sleeping, fighting off nausea, working for the photographer Tim Barnwell in Asheville, and doing some free-lancing projects. She also had a brief love hate relationship with her hair (which she dreaded) before finally deciding to comb out the locks. To all the worried Grandmas out there, “normal” hair should return quickly with all the prenatal vitamins!
Our dog, Eastwood, has been working on his baby bark (it’s getting manlier by the day!), chasing lots of birds, and is patiently waiting for the fall and the death of the flees which have bothered him quite a bit this summer.
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