Goodbye 2010, Hello 2011

2010 has brought many blessings for the Keith family. This year God opened many doors for us, including Matt going full time with Journey Church and me making the decision to continue teaching for another year. I was really thinking about leaving the teaching profession back in March, I thought I blogged about it...but I can't seem to find that post :) We've both grown a lot this year. I've been reminded many times that my timing is NOT God's timing. And sometimes he has a WAY better plan than we do for ourselves.

2011 will bring new joys to our family & extended family. Just to give you a sneak peak...

-In May Matt's twin sisters graduate from Appalachian. Megan with a degree in Family & Consumer Sciences Education & Morgan with a degree in photography.
-In June my baby brother graduates from high school...This is a pretty big deal, he's thinking about going to my alma mater..AppState. (fingers crossed he gets that acceptance letter at the end of January)
-Also in June my sister will be competing for the title of Miss NC here in Raleigh. This is something that has been her dream since she was a little girl and she feels that God can really use her to be an example of a Christian role model for youth across our state.
-BABY KEITH COMES!!!! in July. My due date is July 18th and we are THRILLED to become parents in 2011. I can't wait to meet our little one!
-Morgan (Matt's sister) gets married in November. We're gaining a wonderful brother-in-law and we are super excited about the plans for their special day.
-And finally...in December Anna (my sister) will graduate from UNC Charlotte with a degree in Elementary Education.

Many other wonderful things are happening in 2011...weddings of close friends, vacations, and of course many surprises and blessings from God. We can't wait for 2011...bring it on!

Merry Christmas! A few days late...

Matt & I had a wonderful Christmas! We actually started last Wednesday (Dec 23rd) and had something every day through December 26th...sometimes something twice in one day. We celebrated Christmas 7 times, missing 1 family get together with my dad's side of the family. We traveled to Fuquay Varina, Sanford, and Kannapolis...by the time we got home I was exhausted and sick with either a major case of morning sickness or a nasty stomach bug.

Even though I was sick, we were able to enjoy our wonderful families and I was reminded once again, how blessed we are. God had given us such big families and we have a great time anytime we are together. It was great to stop from the busy month of December to celebrate the birth of our Savior and what that means for us. I was reminded as we drove around NC of how full I feel all the time because of the love, grace, & mercy of my Savior. I can't imagine celebrating Christmas just to celebrate Santa Clause & getting presents...what an empty reason to have a holiday. As Christians we get to celebrate the birth of the One who came just for us, and I can't think of any better reason to gather with my friends & family.

Matt & I scaled back on the amount of money we spent on each other this year, mainly because we just don't need anything...but as I shopped & as we opened gifts the theme of why we celebrate just continued to run through my mind. Every time we opened gifts with our family, I thought about how I had more than I need & the God of the universe came to be born in a stable...A STABLE! No heat, no nice hospital room...but a barn with animals and smells. Such a humbling thought. As we get ready to celebrate the new year, I've been reflecting on what this means & my prayer for the year is that I will come to know Jesus & fall in love with him even more than ever before. Matt & I have an exciting year ahead of us...(I'll save that for my new year's post) but without listing it all God is going to do HUGE things in our family. I want to make sure that through it all, people see Jesus in our family. After all, if you take everything in this world away...he's all that's left. He's all we need.

Anyways, I realize this blog probably doesn't make any sense...it's really just my ramblings of Christmas. Thanks for enduring it! I hope your family had a wonderful Christmas!

Our child got a lot of presents this year...you would thing he or she was already here. Our parents are going to spoil this kid rotten. Can't wait! :)
Aunt Megan couldn't resist when she bought this onesie! I think this was secretly Matt's favorite Christmas gift.
Molly enjoyed Christmas too, even though she has already chewed up (I mean bit the head off and ate it) one of her new toys...sorry Mr. Chicken.

Not Much Lately...

Exactly what I've been doing...

Since I found that I'm pregnant, I've not really done a whole lot...except work & sleep. Of course this is a whole new experience for me, but I'm usually a go getter. Despite the fact that I don't get a lot of sleep as it is because my job is so demanding & I strive to have a life outside of working, I usually just go with the flow...sleep or no sleep, headache or feeling great. But I've experienced all of the 1st trimester goodness...nausea, vomiting, need for MORE sleep, headaches. I feel like I've been such a baby about it, but I've found myself sleeping or laying around any chance I get. For example, I was really planning to get a lot done since it's a snow day. I'm sooo behind on grading & other school responsibilities but when I woke up this morning, even after eating, taking nausea medicine, & showering I still felt like crap & my head was pounding. So what did I do today? Sleep & lay around & eat. It's killing me, this isn't the normal me.

People keep telling me that it will go away after my 1st trimester & I really hope it does. Of course I've also heard the horror stories of women being sick for 9 months. Regardless, I'm trying to make best of this time & I know that whether I feel like a million bucks or I just feel like crap & have to spend the next 7 months going to work, sleeping & eating...7 months from now I'll get to meet the little peanut inside of me that seems like it's growing like a weed because I can't get enough food in my body & that's also been making me so sick.

Matt has been amazing & has had to work WAY to hard recently. He's been doing the cleaning, laundry, & keeping up of the house. He did a lot of the decorating for Christmas (what got done this year...we didn't get everything out, which makes me sad but next year I'll have the energy to help). I've done good to get dinner cooked when I get home from school & keep the fridge stocked with food. Don't even get me started on Christmas shopping though, we have barely started. The goodies I usually bake won't be made this year either, Matt keeps telling me "it's okay," but it's my favorite time of the year & feel like I'm not making the most of it. He is such a wonderful husband & I know he'll make a great daddy. I just feel so bad that he has to take care of me, grab me a snack in the middle of the night, & take over a lot of the stuff that I normally do in the house.

Hope I haven't bored you, but I haven't written in a while & this is really all that's on my mind...and it's what I've been up to. Until next time, I have my saltine crackers & my gingerale! :)

A guy, a girl, a dog, and...

Take a look at our latest blog post on our Matt & Magan site. www.mattandmagan.com

Exciting things to come in the Keith family! :)