We're Just Doing Life

Tonight, as Austin and I were sitting in our living room, he looked over and said, "We're just doing life, aren't we?" That statement really sums up what we've been up to since the start of this New Year. I would love for our blog posts to be profound, funny or even ridiculous, but this one is just ordinary. I haven't been re-decorating our house, working on cute crafts, or making meals from scratch  I've been going to work, going to church, hanging out with friends, spending time with Austin, exercising and trying to stay dedicated to even cooking dinner. Despite the hum drum of our everyday lives, God is so good and is constantly providing for us! A wonderful example of that is that we have a new (to us) vehicle!

I had mentioned in the New Year's post that Alvey has, sadly, bitten the dust. Suddenly, Austin and I were in the process of looking at car options. All the options were really overwhelming. Something we had thrown around, jokingly at first, was getting a mini-van. I know what y'all are thinking, and, no, it is not indicative of plans in the immediate future! We compared prices and looked at our budget and nothing really seemed to click. Fortunately, God's timing is perfect, for several months earlier, Austin's mom bought a new van and put her old one up for sale. There had been a few interested parties, but nothing worked out. When we were at the birthday party of our beautiful niece, Ailidh, the last weekend in January, it hit us that we should ask about the van! Austin's parents were excited that we wanted it and we picked it up the following weekend!

So, yes, we are the happy and proud owners of a Navy Blue Nissan Quest mini-van! In Austin's words, "having a van is like having an enclosed truck!" Although we haven't yet had the opportunity to move anything big around in it, we're glad that it is a possibility. We also recognize the road-trip potential of a mini-van and look forward to that at some point! Of course, the comment we keep hearing is that now that we have a mini-van, we have room to fill it up with children! Yes, that is true! We're anticipating that season of life with joy but we're still enjoying life pre-children. In the meantime, we've got a sweet, smooth ride!

An immediate benefit of having a van is transporting me around with my injured knee! Last week I was exercising (doing a reverse lunge with bicep curl to be precise) and heard my knee pop as I was coming up from the lunge. The sound itself scared me and I felt that something wasn't right with my kneecap. Austin heard the sound from the other room and came running. He was so calm and reassuring as I was crying hysterically, convinced that I would never walk again (dramatic reaction, I know.) We ended up going to Quality Care that night. Tears still running down my face (this time from pure frustration that I hurt myself doing something good for my body!), Austin wheeled me around in a wheelchair and they took an X-ray of my knee. After the doctor bent it and stretched it every which way, he told me that the knee cartilage was strained. He told me that my ligaments and tendons were all fine, and I just needed to stay off my knee and let it heal, but that I wouldn't be down for long. That was music to my ears. He gave me some meds and sent me home. I missed work the next day to keep it iced and elevated and Austin did a good job bringing me what I needed. I discovered that I'm not a good patient when my mobility is severely limited! Long story short, we ended up going back to the doctor that night, to to make sure everything was still okay. It was, and I even got some crutches! I also learned that most people use crutches that are adjustable and start at 5'10". I had to get the mini-crutches, which start at 5'2". Ha!

We made it to the weekend, thankfully, and we had the best day on Saturday! Uncle Patrick and Aunt Sherry came to visit from Paducah! We ate lunch at Zaxby's, took a driving tour of Humboldt and Jackson (we even found Union's old campus!), played the Wii (hilarious!!!) and ate dinner at Catfish Cabin. They are such blessings in our lives and we always have a ton of fun when we're with them.

We went to bed Saturday night, exhausted. I woke up the next morning to find out that Austin had been sick multiple times that night. I slept right through it! Poor thing- I felt like an awful wife for not being there. At first we thought it was food poisoning (we're a little wary of land-locked local seafood places), but came to find out that the Australian stomach bug was running rampant on Union's campus. Needless to say, we didn't make it to church. Austin spent the day drifting in and out of sleep on the recliner, and I was stretched out with my knee propped up on the couch. We were quite a pair! Thankfully, Mary brought us some groceries and some dinner for me. Austin has made a full recovery, although the campus was closed down starting Monday at noon through today because there were so many cases of it!

So, Austin and I have been together almost constantly for the past 5 days. Pretty sure neither of us really knows what day it is, but it has been quite an experience!

We're just doing life! We're so thankful that the Lord is so gracious and patient with us. We're thankful that our bodies are healing and that we're able to work and do things we enjoy!