let's celebrate!

For as long as I can remember, my family has been looking for any excuse to celebrate. We celebrate EVERYTHING. From giving talks in church, to getting A's on a test, to being pregnant. :) YAY.

We do this because we love getting together, shopping, and eating out. Any excuse to go out and spend money, right? (Don't get me wrong, we don't always have to spend money to celebrate. We do enjoy just being together.)

Here's a couple of things we've used as excuses to celebrate:

cleaning the house
any time we performed ANYWHERE
when I tried out for organized sports (MAJOR MAJOR failure... but at least I tried)
when I did well in track (winning races, or even placing in the top 3)
finishing our chores
accomplishing ANY goal, no matter how big or small
singing, playing the piano or doing anything in church, including giving talks
passing grades in school
getting into college
scholarships I received
passing driver's license test
my sister's mission call
when my sister got back from her mission
my brother's mission call
when my brother got back from his mission
buying our house
graduating (from elementary school, jr. high, high school, college...)
getting engaged
getting married
new jobs
getting pregnant
getting insurance.

Even though some of the events on this list may not warrant celebrating extravagantly, we still do. The last two are the most recent, of course.

As you know (or maybe forgot) Travis and I have not had insurance for about 10 months. It has been REALLY rough and we have had to be really careful and take precautions to not get sick or injured within this time. I always seem to get the random sicknesses that end up with me in the hospital and us with a $3,000 medical bill.

This presented a huge hesitation when we felt prompted that we needed to start a family. We felt the timing was good and bad in many ways. We are both done with school..although that was not the only factor in us deciding to have kids. We weren't ready til about a year ago, so don't judge!... We knew that we wouldn't have insurance and how risky that is when being pregnant. Medical bills could cost up to and possibly exceed $25,000 dollars.

BUT

we knew that everything would all work out. So we put our faith in God and started trying for kids. Man that was not easy. I thought I would be fertile myrtle and get pregnant right away. Needless to say that was not what God had in store for us. When I found out I was pregnant, I was excited but apprehensive about the insurance thing. Travis has been applying for and looking for jobs for a loooong time. He had interviews that didn't go anywhere and doors of opportunities slam right in his face. He is doing everything he can.

We are doing our best and trying to have more faith that things will work out. Well, just now my mom called me and told me that I am approved to be under their insurance! Because I am under 26, I can still be on my parent's insurance. I am so relieved that I will be covered during pregnancy. This is truly cause for celebration!! Now there is much less pressure on Travis to find a job. Now we can find the RIGHT job for him, instead of just a job that has benefits that he might not have enjoyed doing.

I feel good about the way things are going. I feel pretty sick from morning (all day) sickness, but I am trying to be positive. I am nauseas all the time... it never goes away! I now have a genuine appreciation for all the mamas out there who have "been there, done that."

I really am soooooo happy. 'Cept I may not seem like it because these hormones are craaaazy! I had no idea.

When I told my parents I was pregnant, the first thing my dad said was, "YES!!!!! Let's celebrate!" I knew then that good times were ahead. :)

I told Travis about the insurance thing and he said, "You should tell your mom and liz that you need to go to Olive Garden to celebrate."

See?! Any excuse will do. Anybody else wanna join in on the fun? We'll celebrate anything!