Saying Goodbye

It is so hard to say goodbye to loved ones. When I found out my dad was gone I sobbed and sobbed for the rest of the day. Then I woke up planned his funeral and went back to work.

Saturday the 14th was the service to remember his life. My dad had a wonderful life and touched so many lives. It was truly evident how many lives he touched by the over packed church. My dad was always seeking peace, always searching for more. But he never needed to search because he talked to everyone, and helped so many. During the service I knew my dad was there. I heard him singing and then he really let us know he was there when a cell phone went off. You see my dads phone was ALWAYS going off. Someone was always trying to reach him. Saturday he was saying he was there.

Today we put my dad to rest at the local National Cemetary. He truly deserved a proper military burial for all the service to our country. The active duty Navy Honor guard presented the flag, played taps, and did the gun salute. Then we went to the grave site and I was able to put a scoop of dirt on his cremation box. We watched as the grounds crew finished setting his final resting spot. While we were watching him be interned 4 Navy jets flew over the cemetary. Once again I believe it was dad letting us know he was there. I just thought how fitting it was for those jets to fly over. During dads service he worked on the flight deck of the Aircraft carriers. So he was around jets everyday. So he was there. I was one of the last to leave the cemetary, so I was able to say my goodbyes privately.

My dad is at peace! The coming weeks will be hard as we welcome Rileigh to the family and I'll want to call him. I can't wait to take her to see her grandfather.

Weight Loss

I haven't been really trying to lose weight in the past few months but really just trying not to gain the 10lbs I lost when I started internship. I was very successful with the holidays to not gain any weight. I've been really good at staying at a certain weight.

Well that all changed when dad passed. I've discovered I'm not an emotional eater but a bored eater. So since I've been staying busy all week keeping my mind occupied on other things I have not eaten out of boredom. So since that is the case I've actually lost about 3lbs. I've been told it is anxiety, depression, and other things. But I've eaten my 3 meals a day and nothing else. I eat till I feel full and I'm done. I'm so tired at the end of the night that I don't sit in front of the TV and eat. I actually go to bed. I'm hoping this trend continues as we bring Faithe home.

I'm in a wedding in June and when I bought my dress I ordered it one size smaller knowing I would lose the weight. I'm on the right path. Soon I'll be taking nightly walks with my baby girl and telling her all about her grandpa on our walks. :) Can't wait to hold her.

Two Days and One Week

In just two days we will memorialize my dad at his home church. Then 3 days later we will put him to rest at the cemetary.

But one week from today we will be holding our little Faithe.

It truly is going to be an emotional week. One day saddened by the loss of my father the next day excited and blessed with the birth of our daughter.

My Daddy

This is me and my dad dancing at my wedding. I was looking for pictures last night for the memorial service and found this one.

My dad golfing the morning of my wedding. He LOVED to golf. I can see him in heaven golfing everyday. I love this picture of him because it shows him enjoying what he loved to do.

27 1/2 years ago I was my Dad's birthday present. I have not gone one birthday without spending time with my dad (unless he was out to sea). That I think was our special bond. I would get annoyed that anytime we went out to eat for our birthday he would tell the server that it was our birthday and I was his 27th present. But now I know he was just so proud to share that special day with me.

He is heaven right now looking down on us. I know he passed happy and proud of me. He knew his daughter graduated and he knew that he was going to be a grandpa.

Love you Dad! I miss you so much!

So Sad

I had started a post this morning to post some of my favorite waiting pictures we had done. While I was working on posting those pictures my step-mother called with some sad tragic news.

At about 230 this morning my dad was driving to his home (they are separated) and he over corrected a turn it seems and flipped his vehicle. He was ejected from the car which is the likely cause of his death.

My father was a wonderful father and would do anything for me. I'm so happy to know that he has gone to a better place and know I will be with him one day. I'm still struggling with some of the information and just not being able to call him. I miss him so much already! I'm glad he passed knowing that he was going to be a grandpa. Love you dad!

2012 Goals

I'm going to call this goals rather than resolutions...because Goals are usually completed:)

First and foremost goal is to Love on my baby girl all the time!

We have a goal to be more organized with our bills and how we organize them. Currently the ENTIRE year 2011 is sitting on top of the filing cabinet and not filed in it. So we found a new system through pinterest and once I have it up and going I'll do a post about it. I need to find the original link.

From September through December last year we completed the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University. Our goal is to pay off at least half of our debt this year. I'm sure this can be done with a lot of gazelle intensity.

Keep our house clean. So far we are off to a good start. Our house has mostly stayed clean from November till now with just some minor picking up as needed. I can't believe I found the time to do that.

We are also working toward saving money to redo our kitchen. I have a basic idea of a DIY for my kitchen. I'm thinking black or white cabinets adding beadboard to the middle of the cabinets, IKEA stained butcher block counters and tiled wood floors.

Health wise I just want to be healthier. However, I do need to lose some weight as I preordered my dress for Eri's wedding and well I do so 1 size smaller than the size I really needed. So I need to lose a few inches from the hips area.

I am hoping to be more crafty this year. I finally learned how to use my sewing machine just before Christmas (yes the sewing machine Cart got me 2 years ago Christmas). On the list for sewing right now is diaper inserts for the Gdiapers, more burp clothes, and a baby blanket. Of course Faithe's scrapbook!

2011 Rewind

With 2012 about to be a fantastic year I wanted to rewind and review 2011.

We had a good year and it started in January with our homestudy visits. We cleaned our house like crazy and had good visits.
February was pretty uneventful except we found out we were approved for adoption.

March was our 5yr wedding anniversary. We celebrated by going to the Melting Pot and the to movie theater where we had our first date. Unfortunately by the time we got to dinner I was so sick. Turns out I got strep throat from the little kiddos I was teaching. I spent the rest of the weekend in bed.

At the end of April through June Cart was away for work for CAT duty. I had to fend for myself and it really showed me how much Cart does for our home. During those months I was super busy with school. At the end of May I went on a cruise with mom for my 30th. When Cart got home he threw me a surprise party.

July was the month of frustration with our agency. We decided to put our profile out with another agency.

August I started my final semester in college with my internship. I was definitely busy from August to December.

In October we were matched with Rebecca and were excited to be expecting our first child.

In November we were super busy every weekend. We also found out on the 8th that we were expecting a baby GIRL! I was thrilled. We also took a drive down to meet Rebecca and Ben. It was a great visit.

December was super busy for us and we had a great Christmas. We spent the month preparing the nursery for our baby girl. I also graduated from college and was Hired to start a new job in January.

While we had a wonderful 2011, we are looking forward to the amazing year 2012 is going to be!