Category: Love

New Years Eve

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 New. Years. Eve.

so…what’s the big fuss about this day, anyway?
it’s like, December 31st. 
*surprise*. it comes every year.
…
staying up until midnight? 
i already do that like 337 days out of the year.
getting plastered and kissing someone?
welp. that can be done any day – although i don’t recommend it.
watching other people party at the ball dropping countdown in times square? 
boring.
we lived in NYC for four NYE’s and never attended that silly shindig.
listing your new years resolutions that you have every intention of keeping?
you will probably fail.
…
there can be a lot of pressure for people on the eve of ringing in a new year.
you must stay up late.
you must have lots of alcohol and kiss someone.
you must have your list of resolutions prepped and ready to attack on January 1st.
you must be tuned into the television watching the times square ball dropping party hopping slobber kissing commercial driven countdown…
otherwise…
you suck. 
…
for us… the eve of the new year is special for a few different reasons other than the ones traditionally celebrated.
it is a celebration of our past, present and future
all wrapped up into one crazy day.
***

Every New Years Eve, we celebrate our past ~ December 31st, 1996 we got engaged.
here’s our super cheesy engagement pictures.
be kind.



Adam proposed to me on new years eve 1996. 
and this wasn’t a simple ‘get down on the knee and ask. sweating. hoping i’d say yes.’ proposal. 
this was an all day affair.
he made me breakfast and then took me on a scavenger hunt throughout the Oklahoma City area and left notes with clues and meaningful gifts at each location. 
he even ‘popped the question’ in the newspaper. but that wasn’t the real proposal… yet.
Adam is a romantic. 
he has always been extremely affectionate and thoughtful.
i am thankful to know how loved i am.

part of the scavenger hunt in front of the dorms at University of Oklahoma, the announcement Adam put in the paper on 12.31.96 and my wedding ring
our engagement announcement in the Edmond, OK newspaper-June 1997
personal fav 🙂 

  

so after our fun day and scavenger hunt ~ we went to Opening Night in Oklahoma City. 
it’s a big nye celebration on a similar scale of times square ball drop. 
well not really… 
but it is a lot of fun.
there are activities, festivities and performances happening throughout the evening.
i thought we were going to see the “Sound of Music”, but he surprised me *yet again* and took me to the Edgar Cruz concert happening a few venues over.
i was onto him when i saw our parents and siblings (previously trying to hide from me) show up at the concert.
so in front of 300-400 people, Edgar Cruz announced ‘there’s a young man in the audience i would like to invite down to the stage’. Adam took me with him and i was freaking out knowing this was ‘the moment’ he would really ask me to marry him.
i said yes. obviously.
after the proposal our families joined us on stage and next we were whisked off in a golf cart to the Fox Channel 25 news area covering the nye opening night action.
we were interviewed and there was a clip on t.v. highlighting our engagement. 
it was super fun and exciting.
similar to our lives now 🙂 …we are never bored.

IMAG3592-1.jpg

love birds + goof balls = us.


and there is something you should know about *my wedding ring*.
it didn’t come from a fancy jewelry store – it came from a pawn/antique shop.
it wasn’t expensive.
it was used – but it shines – and i love it!
my ring reminds me everyday of Adam’s great love for me.
when i see it shine and sparkle, i am reminded of our love increasing thru the years, not fading.
God’s love for us is the same ~ 

it never fades.

we were bought by Him, not at a fancy store, but he paid the highest price with his life and death on the cross. 
*we are used, but shine, for His glory*
…

Every New Years Eve, we celebrate our present ~ December 31st, 2009 Selah was born.
she just turned three years old!
there will be more to her story later…
in her own birth story blog.
*aaaand… i can sense the anticipation as you wait for this forthcoming blog*
Every New Years Eve, we celebrate our future ~ we dream of what will the next year will look like…
we list our goals and resolutions…
we talk about our dreams, hopes, passions…
we pray for continued wisdom, direction and humility…

i already know i’m gonna fail miserably at many of the new years resolutions i set…
i am perfectly comfortable with my gifts and talents of procrastination, running late and forgetfulness.

but in spite of ourselves, the plans we make and what happens in 2013…
this year we will continue to *surrender *trust and *obey the Lord.
as we do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with our God 
{Micah 6:8}.

***


i love that in any community, even a blog, we can learn from one another ~ 
What are your New Years Resolutions? 
please share.
and thanks for reading! 

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Birth Story ~ Salem

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On September 2nd, 2006 our Bubs ~ Salem Charles Babcock was born.
This is his story. 

we found out we were pregnant in January 2006.  so excited is an understatement.
the pregnancy was going great. at 20 weeks, we found out Salem would be a boy. his due date was September 4th, and we couldn’t wait to meet our little man. 
life was grand with our sweet Soleil. we were pumped for her to have a little brother. P.A. was also pumped to [finally] be having a little boy. 

so the months went by and summer came.  june was a hot month and I was one hot mama. i had been through pregnancy before with soleil’s birth and was pretty much an expert. i began to think, ‘let’s just skip these last few months of ankles swelling, raging hormones and increasing crankiness’… 
and just have a baby. 
but it doesn’t work that way… still, there were some days i even managed to convince myself i would go into early labor.  i was in such a hurry to have him.  once i thought i really was in labor and we went to the hospital early, only to be sent home. finally, September rolled around on the calendar.  i was so anxious. on that Saturday, September 2nd, i woke up at 4am and couldn’t go back to sleep, so I read my Bible and wrote in my journal. 
labor had begun.
…
however, i had myself convinced it wasn’t labor. i didn’t want to go back to the hospital only to be sent home. so i talked myself out of it.  i muffled my way through contractions that day and we went on our merry way.  my mom had just come into town the week before. we went to run errands: Sam’s club, Marshalls, Kohls. and for lunch we ate mexican food [a big mistake] i would find out later. and as we were sitting at the mexican restaurant, i hesitantly began to believe i was really in labor. we started timing my contractions only because my mom made me. 
yes, did you realize that even at age 29 your mom can make you do something?  
it’s true. 
my mother knows best. thanks mom. 
otherwise, he might have been born under the table. 
playing with daddy’s hand at the restaurant while i’m in labor
 after lunch, we walked around the mall at Easton and went to Barnes and Noble where Soleil played with the “chu-chu” for a little while. i figured lots of walking and activity could only help progress this lil’ labor to move along, so i was all for never going back home. and procrastinating going to the hospital for as long as possible.  at Barnes and Noble, we timed my contractions, as they increased in strength and intensity, until *again* my mom made me strongly suggested we prepare to head to the hospital.  and she was right *again*. here we are waiting for our friend Stacy to pick up Soleil, before we went to the hospital. 

3 generations 🙂
the next few hours were a whirlwind of activity and waiting.  we arrived at the hospital around 7:30pm, and my friend Amy met us there.  i had my support posse in place, and found out i was dilated btwn a 3-4. things were moving along, but not really fast enough for me, so we took a little walk around the maternity ward.  that was fun until i threw up my mexican lunch from earlier all. over. the. carpet.
  “Clean up in the maternity hallway!”   
i continued laboring in the room and was barraged with a bunch of labor questions from one of the nurses.  she had impeccable timing *during* each contraction.  i had answered so many questions prior to labor and filled out a laundry load of paper work, so i didn’t understand why she was asking me again the same questions. i was growing irritable. i was waiting for her to ask me, “do you prefer Dr. Pepper or Coca Cola?” “Is your favorite color blue?”  etc… Adam & my mom fielded most of the questions and Amy made jokes to keep me distracted. jokes are one of her spiritual gifts. 

finally…
a few hours, a few strong contractions and a few pushes later at 11:27pm ~ 8 lbs 3 oz of awesomeness entered the world.

Big Sissy!
Our Bubs ~ now he’s a big six year old! Salem is an amazing boy full of energy, compassion, love and laughter.  we are so grateful to have him as our son.  he brings us joy every. single. day.
Birthday Boy~loves his homemade Super Mario characters from Soleil 🙂
Happy Birthday Bubs! We love you and are so excited to share your birth story today!

Model ~ Size 8

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I’m not a model…
But that doesn’t matter…
My hubby thinks I am the most beautiful woman in the world.



Most of the time, I wear a size 8. 

Sometimes, I can wear a size 6.
I’m only 5’3″, so I’ll never be a model.
You’ll never see my face on the cover of People, Cover Girl or Vogue magazine.
Oh, and add the fact that I’ll most likely never wear a size 2 again either.

Usually, Models are super skinny… super tall…and for some reason they always look super sulky, serious or sad.
These things I am not.
However, I am perfectly comfortable in my size 8 jeans.
And… my hubby thinks I am the most beautiful woman in the world.

When we went on our 15th Anniversary trip to the coast a few weeks ago, we were goofing around with Adam’s camera on his new phone which does rapid shooting.
I absolutely LOVE laughing, making silly faces and having fun.
This is our photo shoot 🙂

Adam and I have known each other for 17 years…
In that time, we haven’t changed that much. 
We have a few more wrinkles and silver lining in our hair.
There are times when we feel strong and times we feel more like jello.
We’ve had times when we both put on weight and lost it.
There are times when we feel comfortable in our own skin and times when we don’t.
Now we make it a priority to work out, eat healthy and take care of ourselves…
For ourselves, for each other and for our family.
I think Adam is the most handsome and amazing man in the world.
Here is a little photo shoot I took with his camera when we went to Smith Rock in Oregon.
He wasn’t a fan of my taking his picture with his rapid shoot camera phone, but I did it anyway 🙂
I LOVE THIS MAN!


Take time to take pictures.
Take time to take care of yourself.
Thankfully, we are all unique.
I know that God sees me as His beautiful child.
I know that God loves me more than Adam does!
Take time to Know God’s love for you.
Take time to Know how God sees you.
He sees you as beautiful!


Celebrating 15 years of Marriage!

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8.9.97 ~ 8.9.12

*We have been Married for 15 Years*

If you are just getting to know us / our blog ~ you can read here about how we met and fell in love, and read here about how our friendship with each other and our relationships with God are the foundation of our marriage.

We had a wonderful date on our anniversary, eating at one of our favorite restaurants (Northstar Cafe), drinking our favorite beverages (mochas) and walking thru a beautiful metro park (Inniswood Metro Gardens).  We were caught in the rain, but that didn’t stop our fun.  By the evenings’ end, we were completely soaked with rain ~ fully enjoying our life, laughter together and love for each other.

To celebrate our Anniversary early, we took a lil trip to the Pacific Coast and left the wee Babs with the Grand Babs, while we were visiting Adam’s family there a few weeks ago…

The Yaquina Bay Lighthouse in Newport, OR

Of course, there’s nothing like hiking rocks in skinny jeans and converse 🙂

Adam at the edge of the rocks – such a daredevil 🙂

The “Devil’s Punchbowl”

Exploring Tide Pools

The next morning, we went running 4 miles along the coast.  We ended up with blisters and completely soaked, but it was SO FUN!  In case you don’t already know this about the Pacific Northwest… the weather can be unpredictable. The Oregon coast leans more on the side of being a sweatshirt beach, not a swimsuit beach. It was cloudy and rainy most of the time we were there, but we didn’t care.  We simply enjoyed God’s beautiful creation and each others’ company.  

We can’t wait to see what the next 15 years together holds ~ with God and each other…
We praise God for each day, for the opportunity to love each other, love others and fully live the life He has called us to. 
Thankful. 
There’s nothing better.

the truth is…

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i didn’t know what a blog was until this past summer.  in fact, i didn’t even know they existed.  and now i’m all about blogs.  bloggin’.  lovin’ the blog life.  blah, blah, blah. blog, blog, blog.
it can be hard to write blogs, but i am lovin’ it.  the truth is… i was planning to write a blog with P.A. (in honor of v-day) about having a marvelous marriage; in all areas-friendship, communication, trust, selflessness, respect, intimacy, sex, etc… but i changed my mind.  as usual.  but look for it soon. 
so the truth is… 
i have coffee breath 90% of the time, and if i don’t… i will check to see if I have a fever, because there is probably something wrong with me.  i don’t typically chew gum or suck on mints, so if you talk to me, most likely you will also be talking to my coffee breath.  hope that won’t affect our relationship.
i carry a cup of coffee with me 90% of the places that i go, and if i don’t… it’s because i am on my way to buy a coffee… OR, i might have a fever, because there is something wrong with me.  if it’s the latter, i will probably not go anywhere and just stay at home, where i have access to a coffee maker as soon as i’m feeling better.
i LOVE driving fast.  contrary to what we are taught in drivers ed, i like to drive aggressively, not defensively.  we live in central ohio where most of my life consists of driving up and down a 2 lane road, that turns into a 4 lane road with tons of traffic lights along the way.  the truth is… it takes me longer to get out of town than it does to drive down the highway into downtown.  i love the challenge of getting from my house to the highway as fast as i can, speeding up to coast thru the yellow lights, and weaving in and out of the slower drivers around me.  which are basically all the other drivers. 
i miss driving in new york city.  for the 3+ years we lived there, we were those crazy people who wanted to live like suburbanites in the city; and also keep our car and deal with all of the parking tickets, lack of parking places, and all of the stress that comes with driving in nyc.  i loved the challenge of finding and fighting for parking places, cutting people off and weaving in and out of lanes.  never too fast in the city though, because you can’t drive much over 20 mph due to traffic.  
our house is medium sized (about 1,800 square feet), but i wish it were a little bit smaller. our fam of five loves being together.  with the exception of school and work, we spend most of our time in the same room.  or within a few hundred feet of each other.  i rarely go to the bathroom without the pitter patter of little feet nearby.  and i really don’t mind. wasted space makes me cringe.  
if you come over to visit and my house IS clean, it’s most likely because i transferred the piles of papers and moved the dirt from one part of the house to another.  out of sight, out of mind, ya know?
i wish my fam didn’t have to work or go to school.  i love and long for the days when the wee babs are out of school and P.A. is not working.  i wish we could just be together all the time.  the truth is... i would love that!
i think way.  too.  much.  about.  clothes.  and shoes.  and wish i didn’t.  it takes up to much brain space in my head.
i waver between insecurity and confidence.  shocking.  i know you probably thought i had it all together.  just keep reading my blogs, you’ll see the ‘real me’ 😉
i trust GOD, but i also worry about all of the things i can’t control.  which is a lot of things.
and this is the truth about me.  what are some truths about you? 
with love, happy valentines day.