Our Sweet Niece and My Growing Belly!

  It has been quite a while since I have written a post.  I think there has been a summer break pattern from  blogging for many people.  But I think it is time to get back in the game, especially since Baby Winkfield is on his/her way!!

So much has happened since April.  We almost finished "Project Sara's Room" upstairs, took many trips to the boat, FOUND OUT WE ARE HAVING A BABY, raised $3,500 for Pelotonia to end cancer research, had an amazing vacation to Colorado to celebrate Callie and Jacob's engagement, danced the night away at Steve and Shana's Wedding, and took a wonderful road trip to New Hampshire to see Alex's family.  It has been a packed six months, but so many wonderful memories have been made.  The Lord has been so good to us.

Here are a few pictures from New Hampshire of our sweet, sweet little niece!  (Mere, I will e-mail you these soon!)

The following pictures are the progression of my growing belly!!  It's been such a fun and blessed process.  Every week I read about how our baby is developing and every day it confirms the Lord's beautiful creation of us.  I couldn't be more thankful!

We're pregnant!! I think this was around 7 weeks?

So many blessings!

The past six weeks have been wonderful.  We have been blessed with great family times and  I have felt loved and cared for by those who surround us.

The dinner entertainment committee

Going back to March. . .Mere, Jon and Nuggett met us in Florida in March for a family trip to see Grammy and Grampy.  Now, I know it wasn't the most relaxing trip due to traveling/vacationing with a ten month old.  But, I still loved it. When I saw Nuggett for the first time that week, she had a huge smile on her face.  It was quite the welcome!

While we were there, we experienced her first dip in the pool (it was only a dip since we were kicked out of the pool for having an infant...lame) took her on walks and entertained her during many meals.   One of the greatest attempts in keeping her busy was giving her a slice of lemon.  Her face was priceless at first but I think she ended up enjoying it!

Sadly, the trip came to an end after four days with Mere, Jon and Nuggett.  When we dropped the three of them off at the airport I had to hold back tears because I didn't know when we would see them next.  Gosh, I love them a lot.  Living twelve hours apart is hard. . .So Mere and Jon, you should move to Ohio ASAP :)

Nuggett was even disappointed that she had
to leave her Auntie Liv and Uncle Alex.

The weekend after our trip to Florida, my sweet dad and his lovely Kathy, came to visit us in Wooster.  It had been five weeks since I had spent time with him, so I was very excited!  We planned the renovation of the upstairs so that miss Sara Carpenter can live with us for the summer.  We will officially have a three bedroom home soon!

The first weekend of April we took a trip down to Columbus for my Uncle Jerry's wedding and easter weekend.  Jerry's bride, Jackie, is a beautiful woman and I am so glad she is a part of our family!  The wedding and reception was very fun and of course, we danced the night away.

Easter Sunday, we celebrated that Christ has risen with Rachel and Zack at the Vineyard!  I must say that they are quite the cute couple.  Following church, we celebrated my birthday and my grandma's birthday.  She is a wonderful grandmother and I am thankful for her!

Lastly, my super husband planned a "Love on Olivia" night for my birthday.    We went to Senor Panchos for dinner and then we went back to our house for my favorite ice cream cake (thanks to Sarah and Mariah).  I must say, then best part of the night was Sarah Hanson surprising me by coming up!  I couldn't be more thankful for such a special time with friends.

On Thursday we will be off to South Carolina to see our cousins Cole and Jenny!  We are looking forward to spending a few days with them and hanging out with their sweet boy, Cameron!  

YL, I'm so glad you are back in my life.

After I stopped leading at Kilbourne, my co-leader, Glynda, told me, "You'll be back in the ministry one day."  And that day has come!!  I couldn't be more excited to be involved with Young Life again.  I am slightly biased, but I think Young Life is the greatest out reach for high school students.  It changed my life and I wouldn't be where I am today if it wasn't for the ministry.

We will be leading at Orrville High School, about 15 minutes from Wooster.   Now, Wooster vs Orrville is one of the biggest rivals in Ohio.  When we were introduced at club, Tommy made the mistake of telling them that we live in Wooster (which they would find out at one point or another). . .we were immediately booed by the kids.  I actually think it's pretty funny.  I'm not too worried about the rival, but I am nervous to lead and live in two different towns.  Even with that said, I know that this is where the Lord has called us and I am grateful.  

Orrville club has been great to experience.  Tommy and Hilary have been leading there for the past four years and have been a staple to the community.  They say that they are "still learning the ropes of young life" since they started leading after college; but I must say that they have done a great job.   I am thankful for their dedication to Orrville YL, and now we get to be a part of what they have started.  

Emily is our third co-leader who is a student at the College of Wooster.  Her love for the Lord is evident in the way she loves the girls and challenges the kids.  She is a beautiful woman that I am looking forward to learning from and spending time with.  

Say some prayers for us and our new adventure with wonderful friends.  

P.S. Shout out to my old co-leaders.  This makes me think of you guys and miss you a lot!

This is why I love young life.  

Let's Ride!

Dear Friends and Family,

First, we would like to thank you for supporting us as we successfully raised $3,600 for cancer research last summer. Your generous donations were a huge part in Pelotonia ’11 raising over $12 million in total.

We would like to share a truly inspirational story from last year’s ride. John Looker rode Pelotonia ’11 with stage-4, terminal brain cancer. He completed the same 102-mile ride that we did. Later in the year he went into remission and had his terminal status removed in November. This was made possible thanks to monies raised for the James Research hospital where he is undergoing treatment by Pelotonia.

The two of us with John Looker

Last year, we rode with specific friends and family members on our hearts, people who were either battling cancer at the time, or had been lost to it in the past. While we celebrate some of those people being healed, we, like many of you, have continued to see cancer affect new people and the need for new treatments become ever more pressing.

This year, we are raising the bar for ourselves and need your help. We have committed to ride 180 miles over two days and to collectively raise $4,400. In order to do this, we are offering our unique set of skills to anyone willing to donate to our ride. Having cut grass for most of his college life, Alex has a bit of practice. For $15/hr he will simply come and mow your lawn. For $20/hr, he will mow lines into it, making you the envy of the neighborhood (the more often he does the lines, the more they will stand out). Olivia, as you know, is an RN with bountiful pediatric experience, and Alex is a 24 year-old male that kids often confuse for a jungle gym. Who better to baby-sit your kiddos? For $25 we will baby-sit on a weeknight, and $50 will get you a Friday or Saturday night to yourselves.

In order to donate, please go to www.pelotonia.org and search our last name. This is the easiest way for you to donate and receive your tax deduction.

Thank you again for your love and support. It has meant so much to us over the past year.

Best,

Olivia and Alex

Pictures from Pelotonia 2011...

Ready to ride before sunrise.  

   

My mamma and Jens met us at every stop along the way.  They were wonderful supporters!

       

Our new friend Julie who rode with us from mile 43 to 102 in Pelotonia 11

What's New?

Since we have moved to Wooster, our lives have settled down quite a bit compared to what they were six months ago.  However,  I want to give you an update on what has been going on with us!  

Night shift. . .Woof.  

As many of you know, I started working night shift in November.  I knew that it would be difficult, but I didn't know how difficult it would be.  The the past two months I have tried to switch back and forth with my sleeping schedule.  After I work, I sleep during the day, however, when I am off, I have attempted to sleep at night with Alex.  Well, after two months of not sleeping well and feeling terrible, that ended up not being a good idea.  Lack of sleep  = grumpy wife = not nice wife = apologizing to Alex. . .many times.  Fail.

I have attempted to switch to a different shift multiple times, but so far it's just not working out!  And there is a reason, I know there is.  I love my night shift co-workers.  We work well together as a team and they are more than willing to help out a newbie.  Since I have been unable to switch off of night shift, Alex and I decided that it would be best for me to stay on a night shift schedule at all times.  Therefore, I try to stay up until at least three so that I can sleep better and feel rested.  So far, this week has been going well!  

Becoming a one car family! 

Driving a five speed might become the death of me. . .Really.  However, it must be done.   We can both walk to work, so it makes sense for us to share.  If Mere and Jon can do it in Boston, we can do it in Wooster!  With this money we will pay off the rest of my student loans (yayy!!!) and then continue with Alex's and get rid of them asap!  

p.s. if you know of any one that would like a 2002 Toyota Corolla V6 with 112,000 miles on it, let me know.  I have the hook up.  New tires, breaks, and serpentine belt since the summer.  

Pelotonia

Alex and I officially registered for Pelotonia!  I am pumped.  This is a grass roots bike ride that will help raise money for cancer research.  Our goal is to ride 155-180 miles this year and raise a total of $4,400.  I am seeing too many people suffer from this disease and my heart breaks for these people.  If you want to donate, go to www.pelotonia.org and search OW0002 or AW0022.  

Wooster Church

The Lord has blessed us with the Wooster Church of the Nazarene.  We have begun to root ourselves in this church and I am thankful.  The community we have found has been wonderful and we have developed life long friends within just a few short months of living here.  We also have committed to serving in the children's ministry (the one year old room) so I can get a kid fix every now and then.  These kids are adorable and surprisingly independent!  I cuddled with one of them for about ten minutes in the rocking chair just because I he wanted to.  I am thankful for Joel and Lisa, the young adult pastor and his wife, who have poured into us and cared so well for us.   And lastly, we are in a small group every Wednesday night with other married couples and families.  They are such wise people!  

That is all for now!  This was my favorite verse of the week from the book of James.  It hit home to my heart and was an encouragement:  

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. ⁴ Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. ⁵ If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. ⁶ But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 

Encouragement from the Village Church...What is God doing now?

        Lately, I have caught myself focusing on my relationship with Jesus while I was in college.   It was different.  It feels like it was deeper and different then.  I could literally see more fruit from my life and more growth.  And at times I crave that.  I crave the deepness that I had with the Lord.  I crave seeing fruit like I did when I was leading Young Life.  But currently, the Lord has us in a different place in life.  However, I trust that this is where the Lord has us in life right now.  I don't feel called to lead and I don't feel called to a certain ministry right now.  I feel called to just be.  


        When we first moved, I felt that the Lord just wanted me to be with him.  And I will.  I pray that this would be a season of growth.  I pray that while the Lord has us here, that we would understand the Lord's holiness and righteousness.  I continue to struggle with what that looks like.  But I want to know.  I want to know what it looks like to fear the Lord and what it looks like to give my whole life to him.  


           To me this is a scary thought.  But I want to understand just a glimpse of his holiness and depth of Jesus.  I know that I am only scratching the surface of who Jesus is.
  
           So no matter where God has us right now, I am learning that it is good.  We cannot keep looking back.  We need to look at what God is doing right now.  And what he is doing is for His glory and goodness.  He is running this race with his.  

I am thankful that the Lord is. . .

-strengthening Alex and I as a married couple

-providing fellowship for us

-providing mentors for us who are digging deep into our lives

-sticking with us when we are disobedient

-leading us to a place where he will be glorified

"Hear my voice when I call, O Lord;

be merciful to me and answer me.

My heart says of you, "Seek his face!"

Your face, Lord, I will seek."

Psalm 27:7-8

A Year In Review!

What a crazy and busy year we had for 2011!  We traveled (who knows how many times), there were a couple of additions added to our family (Nugget and Jens!), attended 7 weddings, bought a house, Wooster became our new hometown, I became an ER nurse, and we celebrated our first year of marriage!

Here are some great pictures from the year.  The first couple of months, we were getting settled with married life, so nothing exciting happened.  With that being said, we will start in March!

March: Headed to New Hampshire to surprise Meredith for her baby shower!!  It is wonderful to have a sister and I am thankful to have her in my life.  She is such a beautiful woman. The surprise crew:  Sandy Bolster, Julia, Kathy and myself!

My surprise birthday trip was in April!!  Alex surprised me with a fun trip to North Carolina to go see Cirque Du Soleil.  This was also when I bought my amazing bike!  These shoes make me official.  

May:  Happy Mamma's Day!!  Yes, my mamma and I were matching that day, not planned. For Alex's birthday we went to New Hampshire to see the baby for the first time!!  She is such a cutie.  

Alex continues to claim to be Nugget's favorite Uncle.  He is a very proud Uncle :)  

June was a big month for us!  We found our first home, attended the Neike wedding, and started training for Pelotonia!!  

July 4th weekend on the boat!  Steve and Shana came up to the boat with us.  It was such a wonderful and relaxing weekend with friends and family.  

August was another busy, busy month.  I was a part of the Schellhause wedding, we went to our cousin's wedding, closed on our house, bought a puppy, and participated on a 102 mile bike ride in one day to help raise money for cancer research in Pelotonia.  

September and October were filled with nothing but working on the house.  That might have to be another blog in itself :)  November was a fun month of family.  We had an impromptu family reunion!  We had family come from Colorado, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and South Carolina.  There were a total of 24 people for Thanksgiving!  Here is the crew:

December was Christmas in New Hampshire! A couple of co workers switched their schedule with me so that we could enjoy a full seven days with family.    Nugget has grown so much and has a lot of personality!  Alex's grammy and grampy also came up from Florida for the week and it was joy to see them!    

Here's to 2012!  There will probably be just as much traveling, but we are staying put in Wooster :)  The Lord has been so good to us.   I pray for a healthy year where we grow deeper in Jesus.