I shared a room with my sister growing up. Our brothers’ rooms were right at the end of the hallway next to ours. At bedtime, my dad would stand outside our doors and say a “Hail Mary”. Our small voices would repeat each line after him.
After he walked away, I would always pray that I could be like Mary. I told God that I would be courageous enough to do whatever He wanted me to do, and I asked him to use me for something great, like he did with Mary.
As I grew up, life took some twists and turns, and I realized it’s not always very easy to know what God is asking of me. I spent more time doubting and questioning than I did saying, “I am the handmaid of the Lord.”
Through all the doubting and questioning, I still imagined that prayerful decisions I made in my life would fill me with an overwhelming sense of peace and allow me to reflect on how all my previous experiences have led me to fulfill the purpose God has for me.
Last Sunday in church was one of those occasions.
I have sang “Lord, prepare me to be a sanctuary” countless times in life, but that song takes on a different meaning at 17 weeks pregnant. This Sunday in church, I fully recognized that God has indeed prepared me to be a Sanctuary, pure and holy, tried and true. He is using me and my body to fully create another human.
With thanksgiving, I’ll be a living, sactuary, all for you.
Sometimes we don’t know where we are going…or what we are praying toward…but somehow it all comes together. And that’s when we get a glimpse into God’s plan.
Davey and I were in need of closet space for our upstairs hallway and our bedroom, so we searched Craiglist for some old entertainment centers, and voila! We have closet space!
Davey was proud of his Craigslist finds.
I was happy because we moved Davey’s clothes into the entertainment center, and I now have my own closet. 😉
I feel like I really lucked out with my Mr. Right. I mean, I really lucked out.
The other day, my husband cooked dinner. Usually whoever cooks gets to sit out of doing the dishes. But on this particular night, he even did the dishes. I wanted to sing on the rooftops, scream it to every girl I know, “THERE IS A MAN IN THE WORLD WHO COOKS AND DOES DISHES!” When I realized that I was getting overly excited about this situation, I suddenly became extremely sad for girls all over. I mean, we get excited when we find a man who will do dishes. That’s sad, right? What are our expectations for men?
Then I thought about all the other reasons I feel like I lucked out with my Mr. Right: He cleans (himself and the house), he has a good work ethic, he is financially disciplined, he considers and respects what I want, and I genuinely love him.
This shouldn’t be lucking out. This should be the norm.
No wonder why we have TV shows where ABC finds one guy with these qualities and has 25 women pursue him.
I wanted to write this post for two reasons. The first reason is that I want girls all over to know there are men who can take care of life issues, and those are the men they should choose to be with. Second, I want men all over to realize that girls are now going to look for guys who can take care of life issues, so it’s time you all start figuring it out.
Here are five things to consider when choosing your Mr. Right:
1. Cleanliness. When was his last haircut? Scratch that….what I mean is, does he look scraggly? If he can’t take care of his hygiene, how is he going to take care of his life? What does his home look like? Does he own cleaning products? If he doesn’t know what a Swiffer is by now, you can bet he won’t be the one to think of cleaning the floor once you’re married. I’m not suggesting he needs to get a mani/pedis, but its important that some standards exist.
2. Work Ethic. There is a lot to be said for a man who can find a job, keep a job, and excel at his job. It shows he can be dedicated to something. He can work for something. He doesn’t give up when things get tough. Even if he has had a hard time keeping a job (this economy is crazy), does he follow a dream of his? Does he pursue something?
3. Financial Discipline. He doesn’t have to be the richest man in the world; that’s not what’s important. But if he is older than 22 and hasn’t considered a savings account, you might want to see where his financial priorities lie. Before getting married, ask him if he has credit card debt. Ask him how much he has in savings. I can’t begin to tell you how much this will affect your marriage, even if you are doing separate accounts. If he blows his account at the casino, on a big screen TV, or on a new car, the only thing you have for your family is what you are contributing. You want to be able to fully trust that he will be honest with his finances, and you want to feel safe with him having some control over yours. He doesn’t have to be the breadwinner, but he should be able to spend and save wisely.
4. Consideration and respect. It’s okay if you don’t agree on everything, but does he respect your thoughts and opinions? Does he ask you what you want? You know the saying, “Women are from Venus, men are from Mars.” Men will never understand the purpose of a throw pillow. But does he make an effort to see your point of view?
5. Love. My husband is my favorite person in the world. I wouldn’t have married anyone else. If I were single until age 75, then met my husband, my life would be complete. I would rather be single my whole life to meet Davey at the end than to have been with another man the whole time. There is no rush…just don’t settle. Mr. Right is worth waiting for.
So, in my last plea for good-standing men, let’s heighten our expectations of what we deserve, and in response, the men will have to rise to the occasion.
The feeling of being almost 15 weeks pregnant is similar to the feeling I get right after eating Thanksgiving dinner. I just want to lay on the couch with my pants unbuttoned and take a nap…after eating one more piece of pie.
We made one rule for ourselves when we moved to frigid Minnesota: DO NOT HIBERNATE.
It is hard to follow this rule.
Let me tell you about our non-hibernating weekend.
Friday, we tried Minneapolis’ pizza at Pizza Luce, and it was amazing. They have a wide variety of unique pizza toppings and just the right amount of garlic. Mmmmm. We will be going back.
Saturday, our brand new couches were delivered. This was a dream come true for me, and a long time coming! My dream to have brand new couches is a blog post on its own, so I will spare the details now and just let you know that my life was made this Saturday when our couches were delivered.
After laying on the couches for 30 minutes in pure bliss, we rented a truck at our new favorite store, Menard’s. If you haven’t been to Menard’s recently, I encourage you to go and browse around. They have everything you can possibly imagine. How did I not know about this before?
We drove the Menard’s pick-up truck all around Minneapolis and St. Paul to pick up 4 pieces of furniture that we found on craigslist. All 4 pieces of furniture were free….free I tell you! For the low price of a Menard’s rental truck, we got a new dresser, new armoir, new desk, and new dining room cabinet. Well, maybe not new like my couches are new, but you know what I mean. Needless to say, we were in house heaven on Saturday. Finally our little 1892 rental house was feeling like home.
We broke down and hibernated on Saturday night, watching movies on our new couches and eating oreo pie.
After church on Sunday, we chanted, “Do not hibernate” and drove out to Carver Park Reserve to try out cross country skiing. It was a blast! Baby Hiatt must have been wondering what was happening in the world… it was a little shaky! This may sound strange, but we learned how to cross country ski by following children. Kids mess up all the time, and the adults around them give them pointers. So there we were, flipping up our ear muffs to listen to the tips the adults were giving the children. Here are some pics. Isn’t Minnesota beautiful? And my husband…..hubba hubba 🙂
Stay tuned for my next post: Important information you should know about your IT band! (What is my IT band, you ask??? Well…..like I said….Stay tuned!)
Since Davey and I aren’t exactly elite members of Minneapolis’ social scene (aka we don’t have friends yet), we find creative ways to entertain ourselves. Last night, we made cookies!
Baby Hiatt and I had a difficult time restraining ourselves from eating the cookie dough.
Davey was shocked to find out that my “secret chocolate chip cookie recipe” was listed on the back of the Nestle chocolate chip bag.
“Davey, I have to sit down and take a cookie-eating-break. I’m pregnant.”
I had to put this picture in so you know we also eat fruit….sometimes.
I’ve had a lot of extra time on my hands lately since I have yet to secure employment (coming close, though!). Being unemployed is one of the strangest feelings, and I have a new appreciation for anyone who has spent more than 2 weeks looking for a job. It’s exhausting! I can only talk about my ‘strengths and weaknesses’ so much. But this extra time has allowed me to plan and brainstorm what exactly I want this bloggy blog to be. I have come up with 2 very different, but very exciting goals for this blog:
Document the story of #daveyandkaylee (and baby Hiatt!) that we can look back on for years to come.
and
Provide a resource for my peers that includes basic biomechanical, postural, and ergonomic lifestyle changes that can be made to avoid mechanical pain, injury, or early degenerative changes.
As a physical therapist, I am excited to use my knowledge to present fun and easy ways we can protect our bodies from harm and injury–ways you may not have considered! Sure, we’re young—but we won’t always be! Let’s keep our muscles and bones in the best condition possible to preserve our youth. Stay tuned to kayleemay.com to find out why certain shoes give you back pain, what’s the best position to sleep in, or why your IT band keeps getting tight even though you stretch it all. the. time.
I am so excited to develop an online community who enjoys love, learning, and lifestyle as much as I do!
I have been feeling closer to Mary, Our Mother, more than ever.
The other day, I read through Mary’s Visitation to her cousin Elizabeth. Reading the Visitation through the eyes, mind, and soul of a pregnant woman gave me a completely different perspective on the event. Mary must have felt so nervous to explain her situation to Elizabeth. On her long journey to see Elizabeth, she likely thought, “How am I going to tell her? What will her reaction be?”
When she arrived, she didn’t need to explain anything. John the Baptist leaped in Elizabeth’s womb, and Elizabeth exclaimed, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. “
Filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit, Mary went on to proclaim the Magnificat. Luke 1:39-56
The best word I can use to describe the Visitation is joy. Elizabeth was joyful, Mary was joyful, and even John the Baptist in Elizabeth’s womb was joyful.
Although my situation is different from Mary’s, (I am not carrying the Savior of the World, although I do believe our child will do great things-ha!) I was very nervous to share the news with my family and friends. I expected to answer a lot of questions. Was this planned? Why so soon?
But, as you will see in the video clips, no one asked any of the questions I anticipated. Rather, the rooms were filled with joy.
See our families’ joyful reactions in the three clips below. In the last clip, my brother and sister-in-law had devised a poem after the dinner prayer on Christmas Eve to announce their pregnancy and our pregnancy.
It’s amazing how much love and joy a new life can bring.
