monday, Monday, MONDAY

We scheduled my induction for Monday! Holy canoli... if all goes as planned we'll have this baby FOR SURE before Wednesday. YAY!

P.S. Miracles happen. Mr. Joseph got a job! It might only be for the holiday season, but they're not sure. Either way, at least we'll be able to pay rent in January. :D

a million things

I can't sleep again. bah. I hate this... I'm fully exhausted all day and then can't sleep at night. It's me being stressed over all the usual things, and all the new things.

Baby could come any day now- emotionally I think I'm as ready as I'll ever be for him. I'm pretty excited now, but stressed out of my mind at the same time. From what I hear I need to get used to that feeling. As far as being actually prepared for him to get here- not even close. His clothes need to be washed, his crib finished, and about a million little things need to still be bought. Yikes. Also, his room is currently serving as my make-shift craft room. I'm already dreaming of the day I'll have space of my very own to make things.

The craft room monstrosity is because I decided fairly last minute (as in two weeks ago) that I want to do all or most of our Christmas presents to family by hand this year. yikes. Nephew's gift is nearly done now and I have to say it's even cuter than I'd hoped. I'm a little in love with it. I also have most of the stuff together to make sister's present. The goal is to have all of the Van Allens' gifts done by the time Mom leaves from helping with brand-new-baby. wish me luck!

Today the maintenance guys are coming to check on our air-conditioner, smoke detectors, vents, etc. I'm thrilled. Ok... I lied. I don't want them to come. Mr. Joseph will be at school and their visit means I won't get to nap. dang. Plus we had to move the shelves that my sweet husband made me so that they can get to the air filter. Also- we get to meet with the bishop tonight. Not sure what that's about and not sure I'm excited. Now would be a fairly inconvenient time to get a calling.

Mr. Joseph is talking in his sleep in there. It makes me think of the part in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban where Ron talks in his sleep- possibly my favorite moment of that movie. It's kinda adorable. The poor guy is also sleeping in a long sleeve shirt and pj pants since my little space heater (aka baby Booger) makes it so I have to turn on the air conditioner despite it being the middle of November.

Nikki's James comes home today. Holy flip. I'm so excited for her. Russia buddies forever lady. Crazy to think this means that it's been almost two whole years since Mr. Joseph got home. James flew to Russia the day Kimbal came home from his mission. I can't even believe we've known each other (or at least known of each other) for that long Nikki. I'm so happy for you! It's going to be wonderful!

I miss my MG's. All of you. Like a whole lot. I want to come see you all badly, but I'm not really supposed to travel. bah. I'm trying to think of some way we can fit all of you into our itty-bitty apartment for a get together. Perhaps sometime in early January when Booger is still little and new, but not so new he's super susceptible to getting sick (I'm already getting paranoid about that).

happy?

Last night Mr. Joseph asked me if I'm happy. For the first time since we got married, I had a hard time answering that. Am I happy? With what exactly? With him? Absolutely. He's amazing- I honestly never dreamed I'd have a husband this caring, loving, and understanding. But with life in general? I'm not sure. I know life is hard for everyone right now, but sometimes I let myself indulge in a little pity party because we just can't seem to catch a break. We've been trying to get a steady job for over a year. Being poor I can handle- being completely and utterly broke... not so much. We're only a few weeks (at the very most) away from this baby getting here and we don't have the time or the money to get his room in order. On the other hand, I have an incredible husband, a great family, and while I'd love to have a few friends who live close to me the ones I've got are pretty incredible. I'm trying so hard to do my best here, but I've about reached my limit of stress before I just break down. Whine much? Yes. But I have to get it out so I can try to move on and get something done today.

First up- Today I get to work on Cameron's Christmas present! YAY! My sweet husband got my sewing machine all cleaned up and running. I'm psyched. I just hope I'm better at sewing than I think I might be... yikes. Also looking for tutorials for crafts for my Momma. Already found a few that I think she'll love. Bomb.

"It is only possible to live happily ever after on a day-to-day basis."

-Margaret Bonnano

thought For The Day

"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."

-Theodore Roosevelt

Love that. Especially since I've been in a crafting mood lately. I think it's my own personal version of nesting. I'm using it to my advantage though because it's beginning to look a lot like christmas and my latest rounds of craft blog-stalking have turned up tons of beautiful ideas for gifts I can make on the cheap (my two fave craft blogs- Make It and Love It and Ucreate). Yesterday Mr. Joseph and I got all the stuff I needed to make something for my nephew and a few things for the thing I'm hoping to make for Booger for christmas (kinda doubting I'll get that one done though). I'm super psyched about Cam's present! I think it'll be awesome if I can get it to work out even half as cute as I'm imagining it. And all this awesomeness cost under $7 including some supplies that I'll be using for other gifts. Amazing.