Call Me Crazy...

Halloween is still 11 days away, and I'm already over it. I'm ready to skip ahead to Christmas. I think I've had enough of the fall season. I've decorated the apartment with pumpkins, made pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, and we're planning to go to Trunk-or-Treat next weekend, but seriously, I think Halloween is overrated...where's the fun in getting ready for it? At least during Christmas there's a tree to trim, decorations to put up, shopping and traveling to do, and WAY more yummy things to cook and bake. Oh, and of course, a ridiculous number of Christmas songs to put you in the Christmas mood...which I have already started listening to. Yes, it's mid-October and I've already got about a million Christmas songs in their own playlist on iTunes, playing as I type. Call me crazy, but, I need a little Christmas. Maybe it's the whole "nesting instinct" settling in WAY too early, or the fact that Virginia is not exactly snow friendly, and I miss having a white Christmas, or at least cold weather during Christmas. Crossing my fingers for a trip home to Maine in December!



On a different note, I'm starting to get really excited about this baby! The morning sickness has FINALLY started to let up and I can actually get out of bed in the morning, eat normally (for the most part), and find the energy to do more with my hair than twisting it into a knot on the top of my head and actually bothering to put make-up on, and I mean make-up, not just concealer, which has become my best friend thanks to the obnoxious acne I've had lately (thank you hormones). My mood has definitely improved too, I've started doing more around the house(poor Cameron has been SUCH a good sport!) and I've been able to accomplish more work for my class! I'm still tired, but at least now I know that it actually comes from doing something than from sitting on the couch all day.



I had the chance to announce our good news in Relief Society on Sunday, along with two other women in our ward! It seems like EVERYONE is pregnant, I know of at least 3 other couples in our ward who are expecting! It's so exciting, our ward is going to have so many babies!
My first doctor's appointment is on Thursday! I will be 10 weeks! We are so excited to go and see how our little baby is doing! I will be sure to blog about it, pictures included!

Big News and Big Changes

We have had quite a few changes and lots of good news in the Thomas household. First of all, my brother-in-law is getting married! Justin proposed to Brooke in August and they are planning on getting married in the Nauvoo Temple in December! I'm so happy for them and I can't wait to have a new sister-in-law!

Cam started school a few weeks ago on August 31st and he is loving it so far! He is studying Business with a focus on finance and administration. He loves his classes and he has such a great schedule, he's finished by noon M/W/F, except for one class that gets out at 3:30 on Mondays, and he's done by 1:30 on T/Th. He his so happy to be in school, and there's only 13 weeks left in the semester!

The biggest news lately...I'M PREGNANT!!!!

We found out about 10 days ago, and if I counted right, I'll be 6 weeks this Thursday. Since I'm not very far along, there isn't much else to tell, except that I haven't been able to sleep at night and morning sickness is AWFUL! Hopefully it doesn't last very long! I have my first doctor's appointment on Oct. 22, so hopefully I will have more news by then! We are so excited!

This is our new "office". We haven't been able to do much with the spare bedroom since we moved here...it took us FOREVER to go through all of our stuff that we pretty much dumped in here when we moved in. I wish I had a picture of it, it was pretty bad, you couldn't even walk through the room without having to step over something. But we finally cleaned it out, organized everything, got rid of stuff, and we were able to store everything that was left in the closet! For a while, Justin was living with us and he was using this room, but, we finally were able to do something with it. We bought a desk, a chair, a bookcase, a rug, and a table for the printer, and the room looks great! It is so nice to have the computer in one spot instead of moving it from the kitchen table, to the living room, and back to the table. Cameron and I are so happy to have a place to study and do homework so we're not distracted by anything else that's going on.

I've already started decorating for Halloween! I made some "toilet paper pumpkins", an idea that I got from a friend. You take a roll of toilet paper, wrap orange fabric around it, and use felt and pipe cleaners for the stem and vines. There are other ways to make them, but that was how I did it.

They are so easy to make! And I got those jack-o-lantern candle holders at the dollar store! (Cam really likes them!)

I made this from a wooden wreath and leaves from the dollar store, and it actually turned out to be pretty cute!





Can't forget these! My mom collected Pooh and Tigger beanies and she gave me her Tiggers, so I brought out my Halloween ones to decorate the apartment. I couldn't wait to start decorating, I am so excited for fall!

Blessed

Normally when I blog, it's about a vacation or about a major event. But we have been so blessed lately, I would be so ungrateful if I didn't write about it.

Since we've been in Virginia, we have been living off one income, Cameron's part-time job at Blockbuster as a closing manager. We have been praying for what seems like forever for me to find a job, with no luck, given the current economy. Needless to say, it's been rough. Deciding whether or not to pay bills or pay tithing has been a constant battle, but we've chosen to pay tithing every paycheck. And guess what? It has been a HUGE blessing for us! Last week, I started a babysitting job for a family that just moved into our ward. My friend used to babysit for them when she was here for college, and gave them my name when she went home for the summer. Well, they called me! I just finished my second week babysitting and the extra income has been a big help. Cameron has been getting more hours at work as well. This week, he was scheduled to work Mon-Fri and now Saturday, which was his ONLY day off. It's very rare that Cameron has a Saturday off, so we had planned to spend the day in Roanoke together. When his boss asked him to work Saturday, we were pretty bummed. But, he only has to close that night, so we are still able to get out of Buena Vista for the day and have some fun.

I am so grateful for the law of tithing and for the blessings that it brings if we exercise our faith and pay it every time. I know this is nothing new, but it's so great when it's confirmed over and over again throughout our lives.

Vacation- Mom & Grant's Reception and Nauvoo Family Reunion

We have had such a busy month. We went to North Carolina twice, once to attend Mom and Grant's reception, and then again to celebrate Fourth of July weekend.

Mom and Grant's reception was so fun! They had a luau, and it was great to spend time with them and his kids again. I also got to meet his parents for the first time! His mom is SUPER nice and his dad said "I guess I'm your new step-grandfather!" It was awesome.

Mom & Grant

This is the cake that Mom's friend Sherry made for the party.

It was so good and she did such a good job!

Cam and Alex

"Grandma" Cooper & Mom


Grant & Sidney

Sidney & Mom

"Grandma and Grandpa" Cooper
Sidney and Jack

Me and Sidney

Caleb, Alex, Sidney, and Jack

Caleb, Jack, & Sidney

After Fourth of July weekend, we headed to Nauvoo, IL for a family reunion with Cameron's family. We had an amazing time!

I love this statue!These were some of my favorite statues at the visitor's center,

especially this one of Jospeh and Emma.


Final resting place of Joseph, Emma, and Hyrum Smith

Cute cousins!



Cam and I in front of the Mississippi River

Alanna, Emma, and Justin, waiting for the Nauvoo Pageant to start.

Nice face Justin!

Picture of the Nauvoo Pageant. It was incredible!

This is one of my favorite pictures from the trip.

Cam in front of Carthage Jail

Three generations- Elise, Mimi (Carol), & Amy

We all went to Carthage as a family to see where Joseph and Hyrum died. It was such an amazing experience, and the spirit was so strong there. It was great to be there with family, and we were able to take a few family pictures too!


Nauvoo Temple! It was so amazing! Most of the family were able to go to the temple to do some work, it is so beautiful!



The Yeakley family- Rourke, Amy, Forrest, Elise, Pierce, and Emma

Cam and I in front of the temple

Family picture in front of them temple. Click on it for a better look.

We had such a great vacation, and we were so happy to be able to see our families. We only wish it could have lasted longer!

Where is the year going?!

I can't believe that June is almost over and the second half of the year is coming! This summer has been so busy and crazy. Even though yesterday was the first official day of summer, we've been having a very hot and very humid summer since May! Let me update everyone on what's been going on.

My mom got re-married! She and Grant were married on May 18th in Apex, NC. I am so happy for them, I couldn't imagine anyone better for my mom. Grant is so nice and I am so excited to get to know him better. Cam and I are going to NC on Friday to visit them for the weekend and be at their reception.

So cute!

Way to go Mom!

Mom and Grant went to Maine for a visit a while ago. I was so jealous! I wish I could have gone to see my brothers and grandparents and my aunt, uncle and cousins. By the way, my Uncle Mark finished dental school! He graduated from Dalhousie University in Canada, and they are living in Maine again. I saw some pictures of Mom and Grant's visit. They looked like they had a great time, and I wish so bad that I could have been there.

Back in VA, Cam is loving his job as a manager at Blockbuster. He has a new calling at church as Assistant Cub Scout Master, which is perfect for him! He loves Cubs and we were in charge of the Cubs in our ward back in Maine. He is so excited! I am loving being a stay at home wife, and I am so happy with the class that I'm taking. I am halfway through it and I am so anxious to finish and start working!

Some not so good news-the muffler on our car is broken...awesome (please note the sarcasm). We were driving down the interstate and the pipe just fell. Until we get it fixed, we are improvising with a bungee cord. We will most likely get it fixed some time this week.

We are so excited for the Thomas Family Reunion coming up! We can't wait to go to Nauvoo and see all of Cameron's family, some that we haven't seen in years! I promise I will post tons of pictures. 2 weeks!

Our New Place

I was finally able to take some pictures of our apartment. It's small, but we love it. It was NOT the least bit homey when we moved in, but we fixed that with a few trips to Wal-Mart. Here are pictures of our place and a few of places in Buena Vista.

Entry way/closet

View of the living room from the door

Living room

Our hamster Lulu!




Kitchen

Bathroom

This room is "under construction". Once Cam starts school and I start working, we're going to turn it into an office with desks and shelves and everything. I'm excited to work on that room!

Bedroom

This is on the parkway on top of the Blue Ridge Mountains. This is a view of Buena Vista from the mountain. So beautiful!

So there you have it! We really love it here, it's so beautiful and we are so excited to be here, meeting new people and living in such an amazing state!