Five on Friday and a Favorite Song {03.13.2015}

This was supposed to go up last Friday, but it ended up being a super busy day at work and that just carried into the evening, so it never got done. So I mixed some of last week's stuff with this week's stuff and called it good!

ONE.

Last weekend, some of my best friends and I met up in Omaha for a little girl time. We all met at the mall and did a little looking/shopping and a lot of talking. Some of us then got our nails done and went out to eat at Roja before retiring for the night at Lauren's. These girls' weekends are usually very late nights, but I don't think many of us made it to midnight... we decided that we need to start our girls' weekend earlier in the day next time!
 

 

TWO.
When Mattie and Millie eat, they usually like to take turns so that they can watch each other. This really makes the whole process take longer than it needs to, but as long as it gets done, I guess... I think it's so cute and funny when Mattie's eating and Millie is watching her because Millie will get as close as she can to Mattie and her bowl of food. This happened, as usual, the other evening when I was feeding them (I usually only feed them in the morning because Trent gets home from work before me), so I had to get a picture of it.

 

THREE.

I have been thinking a lot lately about what it will be like to actually meet our baby. It's crazy to think about them actually being here (on the outside of me) and seeing their little face and hands. When I think about it, I really just feel like I am going to cry every time I see them! I just cannot imagine what it will be like to hold a baby that is all ours and we will be their mom and dad!! August really feels so far away! I love this baby so much already, I just can't fathom what it's going to be like to meet them for the first time!!! Ah!

FOUR.

Last week, I purchased the Eyefi Mobi SD Card for my camera. It basically acts as a wi-fi hotspot so when you take pictures, it can connects and uploads them right to your phone without having to get out my computer and upload them there before uploading them to my blog. Normally waiting to upload them isn't such a bad thing, but I bought it for when I take my weekly pregnancy update photos in the mornings so I can get the pictures and the blog post posted during the day without having to hassle with getting out my computer in the mornings (because I would never have time for that anyway... I like to sleep too much). It's not quite as slick as I was hoping it would be, as it kind of takes a long time to connect at times, but so far it has gotten the job done. I think it will be fun to use when I want to take pictures of our little baby with my good camera and be able to share them without having to find time to get my computer out and all that jazz.

 

FIVE.
This song is on Jeremy Camp's latest album and is, of course, a new favorite. (Is anyone surprised? I didn't think so...) I put some of my favorite lyrics below, but it's definitely worth a listen!

Same Power - Jeremy Camp

The same power that rose Jesus from the grave

The same power that commands the dead to wake

Lives in us, lives in us

The same power that moves mountains when He speaks

The same power that can calm a raging sea

Lives in us, lives in us

He lives in us, lives in us

 

We have hope. That His promises are true

In His strength. There is nothing we can’t do

Yes, we know. There are greater things in store

We will not be overtaken. We will not be overcome

 

Greater is He that is living in me

He’s conquered our enemy

No power of darkness

No weapon prevails

We stand here in victory

Five on Friday {02.20.2014}

ONE.

We have a graduate in the house!!! Millie graduated from Beginner Puppy Training on Sunday! They had a little final where we went around the PetSmart store and took turns doing all the things they'd learned and then celebrated with some puppy-safe ice cream. Only three of the dogs from her class were there that day, but I kind of think that was better because it was hard enough to get those three to sit still for the picture!! She's still got a lot of puppy in her and a lot to work on, but it was a nice start to get her trained and more Mattie-like. :)

Millie with her graduation cap on!

Millie and two of her classmates and their owners

Eating her ice cream

TWO.

Lauren sent me this picture last weekend showing the size of our little baby! That's still so hard to believe!! I can't wait to snuggle our little baby for real (when it's much bigger, of course).

THREE.

I didn't have to work on Monday because it was President's Day! That meant I got to stay home with the dogs all day. The days always go by so much faster when I'm at home!! 

I'm sure me being home messes up Mattie's routine for the day, but she still found plenty of time to sleep on Monday I think.

FOUR.

I started my new Bible study at Christ Community Church at the end of January. I was reunited with most of the ladies that I did the Bible study on 1 and 2 Thessalonians with back in the fall and it's awesome. This study is once again done by Beth Moore and this one is called A Woman's Heart: God's Dwelling Place and is all about The Tabernacle. I have already learned so much in the first few weeks and I can't wait to get even farther into it. 

FIVE.

I may have bought these headbands yesterday... juuuust in case we have a girl :)

I figured I could always give them away if we don't have a girl, but they were too cute to pass up!

I probably should start working on getting useful things that we need for the baby rather than things like this that we have a 50% chance of needing in the end... but oh well. That'd be far to practical!

Five on Friday {11.14.2014}

ONE.

I've been in Okoboji since Wednesday night on a little mini vacation. My ended up renting this week's use of my Great Aunt's time share from our CJD fundraiser auction last year, so her and some other members of my family have been up here on and off this week to spend some time relaxing with this nice view.

It has been just a tad cold, but that just made it even better for having an excuse to relax inside! We've watched back to back Christmas movies on the Hallmark channel the past two nights (I may or may not have stayed up until 3 in the morning last night watching them..) and I am really loving it! Yesterday we went out and got manicures and pedicures. It was Grandma's first time getting her nails done, so that was a lot of fun! She said she needs to be careful or she might get addicted to it!

More family is coming up late tonight and then we are taking of for Minneapolis tomorrow afternoon so we can go to the Garth Brooks concert tomorrow night!!! Ahh!!! I can't believe it's finally here! But more on that after it happens :)

TWO.

Yesterday I got to take advantage of being in the area and I visited with my friend Grace for a while in the afternoon. This was the first time I've seen her since the summer of 2011 and this was also the first time I met her son! (And I got to meet see her adorable baby bump) It took him a little while before he was okay with me being there, but after a while, I think he decided I was alright! It was so great to see Grace and get to talk to her for a bit - oh how I wish I could see her more often!!

Here's us (along with Lauren, of course) back from our college days! Such fun times!

THREE.

We now know what puppy will be coming home with us in TWO weeks!! The one with the red collar is our new family member!

This is her!

And here she is at 4 weeks old at 1:30 in this video.

I can't wait to meet her and love on her and snuggle her!!! I'm looking forward to get our little family all together and start working on our new normal!

(In case you were wondering - the puppy talk is just beginning!)

FOUR.
Since we painted our bedroom last weekend, I now need to get serious about hanging things up on our walls FINALLY! I have a few ideas including using what I hope will be a great family picture we will take after we pick up our new puppy and this quote below. I am also on the search for a few other things and hopefully it doesn't take me two and a half more years to get them up on the walls :)

FIVE.

And with it being cold... I think this is genius!!!

Five on Friday - On Tuesday {11.11.2014}

I missed the boat last Friday to post my randomness, so I'm just going to do that today!

ONE.

We handed out candy at our house for Halloween again this year. It was quite chilly, so we did it from inside the house rather than sitting on the front step, but it worked! We were open for business from about 6:15 to 8:00 and counted around 179 Trick-or-Treaters. It was about 100 less than last year, but that could have been because of the weather or because we closed up shop around 8. We got rid of the majority of our giant box of Peanut Butter M&Ms, so it was successful on our end. I did the candy-handing-outing while Trent was the tally-er of the Trick-or-Treaters and Mattie just wanted to get outside to see what everyone's costumes looked like!

TWO.

On Halloween night, we left our house around 8:30 and went to Ankeny, so I could go to the annual craft fair there with the girls bright and early in the morning. Trent and his dad went hiking in the morning and then watched some football in the afternoon.

Here's our one picture from the day! The kid taking it really didn't do a very good job (like, really, dude, back up a little bit!), but we'll take what we can get!

Here's one of my purchases that I got at the craft fair from a little business called Summer Snow. I can't wait to hang it up this winter!!

THREE.

Last Tuesday was the last of the nine-week Beth Moore Bible study on 1 & 2 Thessalonians that I was a part of at Christ Community Church. I am SOOO glad that I chose to do it! I met some of the most amazing women that I am so thankful to have met. It's amazing how much life can happen in just 9 short weeks and how relationships can blossom in that short of a time! There is another Beth Moore study starting in January called A Woman's Heart that explores the building of the Old Testament tabernacle and most of us are planning on doing that one as well, so I am already looking forward to that! 

On the last night of our study, Beth asked everyone to take a pen and write on the palms of their hands - On the left hand "For not all have faith" and on the right "But the Lord is faithful". (As we were doing that - I said "My dad would NOT like this!") Those phrases are taken from some of 2 Thessalonians chapter 3 verse 2 and the beginning of verse 3. She then gave a list of about ten scenarios where something bad may happen like: a bank is robbed, someone we love is sick or hurt, someone says something unkind to us, etc. We then could answer that scenario with the words "For not all have faith, but the Lord is faithful!" It's so true that we can not put our trust in the things of this world, because those things may fail us, but the Lord never will! The Lord is always faithful!

FOUR.

We painted our bedroom on Saturday. FINALLY! It's crazy how just a coat of paint can change the way you feel about a room. It's pretty much just a lighter tan than what was in there, but it sure did brighten up the room and make it seem more clean. Much better than the flat, gross tan that had been on the walls for the past 8 years that the house has been standing!

We painted it a color called Hopsack by Valspar. It's the color that is one shade darker than what we have in our Living Room/Dining Room/Hallway, so it goes nicely!

One of our big motivations for getting the painting done was so we could rearrange the furniture in our room at the same time and make a space for another dog bed/crate that will be in there at the end of the month!

FIVE.

Speaking of another dog! Our puppy is now 5 weeks old!! We are still getting updates in the form of pictures, videos and emails each week and the puppies are getting cuter and cuter every time we see them! We will be going the Saturday after Thanksgiving to pick up the new member of our family and I'm getting more and more excited as the day comes closer!

There were 5 girls in the litter that our puppy is in and two of them have already been chosen, so after the next family picks out their girl, which will hopefully be before the next update, we will know what two puppies are going to be in the Fredericksen family (because Trent's sister's family is getting a female puppy from the same litter) and know that one of those two will be living with us!! YAY!

Here's a picture of one of our puppy's siblings at 4.5 weeks (it's not ours because it's a male) and a video of the puppies from this past weekend!

Five on Friday - Favorite Song Edition {10.10.2014}

Happy Friday, everyone!
I haven't done a Favorite Song Friday in a long time, but, really, I haven't had any songs in my life that were really doing it for me for a while. But now.... I have THREE!! So I'm incorporating it into my Friday Five this week!
I hope you all had a great week!

ONE.

First off, I want to wish a BIIIGG Happy 5th Anniversary to Aunt Doreen and Uncle Nick!!
I love you both SO SO much!! I hope you have a great day (and a great vacation) celebrating!

TWO.

Jeremy Camp - He Knows

The newest song by Jeremy Camp is, not surprisingly, another one of my favorites!
Just like the title, it is about how, even when we feel like we are all alone and no one understands what we're going through and the hurt and sadness we feel, HE KNOWS! More than anyone else, God understands and knows what we are going through. Jesus suffered death on the cross and He has compassion for what we're going through! It is so comforting to know that He is always holding us in His hands and is walking with us through all our days, the good and the bad.

In this video, Jeremy talks about the real inspiration behind the song and what it means to him. He says it better than I can express! :)

You can listen to the song by watching the video below or clicking here.

All the bitter weary ways. Endless striving day by day. You barely have the strength to pray in the valley low.
How hard your fight has been. How deep the pain within. Wounds that no one else has seen. Hurts too much to show.
All the doubt you're standing in between. And all the weight that brings you to your knees.

He knows. He knows. 
Every hurt and every sting He has walked the suffering
He knows. He knows.
Let your burdens come undone
Lift your eyes up to the One who knows
He knows.

We may faint and we may sink. Feel the pain and near the brink. 
But the dark begins to shrink. When you find the one who knows.
The chains of doubt that held you in between. One by one are starting to break free.

Every time that you feel forsaken. Every time that you feel alone. He is near to the brokenhearted. Every tear.
He knows

THREE.

Francesca Battistelli - He Knows My Name

My next favorite song is by my girl, Francesca Battistelli!
This song has the same broad theme as the Jeremy Camp song, that GOD.KNOWS.YOU! Even with all the people on the Earth, you aren't a stranger. God knows your name and He loves you! It gives me chills just to think about that! I want to dance around the room and tell everyone that Good News!!

My favorite words of the song are in the chorus. "I don't need my name in lights. I'm famous in my Father's eyes. Make no mistake. He knows my name. I'm not living for applause. I'm already so adored. It's all his stage, He knows my name."

Here's a video of Francesca giving a little insight behind the meaning of the song.

You can listen to the song by watching the video below or clicking here.

Spent today in a conversation. In the mirror face to face with. Somebody less than perfect. I wouldn't choose me first if. I was looking for a champion. In fact I'd understand if. You picked everyone before me. But that's just not my story.
True to who You are You saw my heart. And made something out of nothing, so...

I don't need my name in lights I'm famous in my Father's eyes
Make no mistake He knows my name
I'm not living for applause I'm already so adored
It's all His stage He knows my name
He knows my name 

I'm not meant to just stay quiet. I'm meant to be a lion. I'll roar beyond a song. With every moment that I've got.
True to who You are You saw my heart. And made something out of nothing.

He calls me chosen. Free, forgiven. 
Wanted. Child of the King. 
His forever. Held and treasured. 
I am loved!

FOUR.

Carrie Underwood - Something in the Water

And for my third and final favorite song for today, my girl, Carrie Underwood. 

(Yes, both Francesca and Carrie are "my girls")

She released her new song Something in the Water last week, but I didn't listen to it until I was on the way to work on Wednesday morning. After that, I think I listened to it at least 20 more times that day.

This song also makes my heart happy. The part of the song the song that says "And now I'm singing along to Amazing Grace. Can't nobody wipe this smile off my face. Got joy in my heart. Angels on my side. Thank God Almighty, I saw the light." makes me so giddy. And then the song is layered with the words from the hymn "Amazing Grace" and that just brings tears to my eyes. One of those things I can't explain, but I just feel it. It makes me want to put the song on repeat, lay on the floor with my hands open and my eyes closed, and just smile!

You can listen to the song by watching the video below or clicking here.

He said, "I've been where you've been before. Down every hallway's a slamming door. No way out, no one to come and save me. Wasting a life that the Good Lord gave me. Then somebody said what I'm saying to you, Opened my eyes and told me the truth. They said, 'Just a little faith, it'll all get better.' So I followed that preacher man down to the river and now I'm changed. And now I'm stronger.

"There must've been something in the water
Oh, there must've been something in the water."

Well, I heard what he said and I went on my way. Didn't think about it for a couple of days. Then it hit me like lightning late one night. I was all out of hope and all out of fight. Couldn't fight back the tears so I fell on my knees. Saying, "God, if you're there come and rescue me." Felt love pouring down from above. Got washed in the water, washed in the blood. And now I'm changed. And now I'm stronger.

There must be something in the water
Oh, there must be something in the water

And now I'm singing along to amazing grace. Can't nobody wipe this smile off my face. Got joy in my heart, angels on my side. Thank God almighty, I saw the light. Gonna look ahead, no turning back. Live every day, give it all that I have. Trust in someone bigger than me. Ever since the day that I believed I am changed. And now I'm stronger.

FIVE.

This next week will be the fifth week of the Women's Bible Study I've been attending on 1 and 2 Thessalonians. I love how each week (and, really, each day in between) I can learn something that is so simple and something I may have known, but it is presented or said in such a different way that it seems just like the most amazing thing I have ever heard. Things that stir up emotions inside me that I didn't know I could feel from just reading "a book".

Just the other night, I was sitting at the kitchen table doing one of the daily studies. This day was centered around 1 Thessalonians 4:13 - "We do not want you to be uniformed, brothers, concerning those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve like the rest who have no hope."

I always knew that I could have hope in Jesus, but it wasn't until I read the statement below in  my study, that I really realized how thankful I am to be able to put my trust in God and to be living my life for him! Without hope, what would be the point?!? There would be no upside. 
It said,

Nothing is like hopelessness. No feeling of loss, as terrible as it may be, can compete with it. 

 That is so true. It just puts everything in perspective. No matter how big the loss or how bad the pain, I can and will overcome it because Jesus has overcome the world! I have hope and a future in Him!!!!!! I pray for all those who feel hopeless... I pray that they can come to know the hope that they can find in Jesus!

Yee Haw! Happy Friday, Everyone!! :)

Linked here

Five on Friday {10.02.2014}

ONE.

Nap time for Kenzie and Mattie!

Jared and Kenzie came to our house last weekend. They came to bring us some furniture and things and left with the couch from our basement, but it wasn't all business while they were here. We went out to eat at Oscar's and watched some football on Saturday night after they got here and then had breakfast and watched some more football on Sunday (football and eating is what we did, I guess). It was nice to spend some time with them!

Below is one of the items that they brought me from my mom's office. I'm not sure where its home is going to be inside our house yet, but for now it's hanging out in our dining room. It doesn't quite look like I thought it was going to (I thought it had legs) but I think we'll get along just fine! :)

 TWO.

My DietBet that I mentioned I was going to do at the beginning of September ended on the 23rd. I beat my goal of losing 4% of my weight by one tenth of a pound! But I still won, so I got to split the $27,225 pot with all the other winners (well, really just a little over $20,000 after the DietBet people took their share for administering the game. haha). I won $41.59! Woo hoo! So really it was $16.59 after getting my initial $25 back. I'll take it though. That's definitely the most money I've ever received for losing weight ;)

THREE.

This morning I will be purchasing tickets to see Garth Brooks in concert in November! I'm so looking forward to going on a little trip to Minneapolis with some family to experience Garth in person! Yay!
I hate how nervous I get in the few hours before it's ticket buying time!! So much pressure!!!

FOUR.

Fall is here! Which means it's time for warm clothes, Fear Fest on AMC, and Hocus Pocus!!! (I may have already watched it a time or two!) This year, I am having a little get together with my female aunts and cousins (and my mom and sister obviously) for Halloween. It's a Hocus Pocus party where we'll carve pumpkins, eat yummy food, spend time together, and, of course, watch Hocus Pocus!!

FIVE.

Something to think about!

Happy Friday, everyone!

Linked up with Five on Friday here.

Five on Friday - {09.19.2014}

ONE.

This past Tuesday was the second week of a Bible study that I started going to at Christ Community Church. It's a Beth Moore study on 1 and 2 Thessalonians. So far I love it. There are around 40-50 women in the study. We sit at the tables in groups of 8 or so and we sit with the same people each time. I am the youngest one at my table, as most of them have children my age and several grandchildren, but I love that. The women I am with have a lot of wisdom and insight and life experiences that I can learn from and the conversations we have during our time together are great. It is so great to have met all these new people and start growing my own church family here in Omaha. It is also so comforting to know that this group of women will be praying for each other throughout the week and that we are all in the Word and studying the same things each day.

TWO. 


Last weekend we celebrated Trent's grandma's birthday along with our brother-in-law, Russ's birthday. We all went out to eat at Zombie Burger to celebrate and watched the Iowa vs. Iowa State game together. We had lots of good food and conversation, and it was a great weekend!

THREE.

Trent and I got the girls some personalized jump ropes and gave them to them last weekend. Jenna is a tad to little yet to effectively use hers, but Taylor did awesome. I even taught her how to do the little double hop in between each bigger jump and she caught on super quick! Us big kids adults even got to give the jump roping a try! We didn't do so bad ourselves! :)

FOUR.

Mattie is adorable and I love her. That's all.

FIVE.

Trent and I are taking off for the weekend to go to St. Louis. We got tickets to the Rams vs. Cowboys game on Sunday, so we're going down for a tiny vacation. This will be the first NFL game that I have been to, so I'm really looking forward to it. 

Above is a picture of the arch that I took the last time Trent and I were in St. Louis together (with other people as well). That was before us being a WE was even a thought! Oh how things change! :)

Happy Friday!!

Five on Friday - {08.22.2014}

ONE.

At the vet yesterday morning - she was a little stressed.

We've had a sick puppy (she's not really a puppy at all, but she is to me) this week. We went to the vet on both Wednesday and Thursday morning and have been up in the night with her as well. I really think that she's getting back to herself now, but I think both Trent and I were scared of what bad news the vet might come up with as they did some x-rays and things. Luckily everything looked fine, it was just an upset stomach and everything that goes along with that! She sure does HATE going to the vet, though! So hopefully we can avoid that place for a long time!

TWO.

Last weekend when we were in Des Moines for the Iowa State Fair, my new friend, Megan, who lives in Wisconsin just happened to be in the area visiting some friends! We met each other for the first time in November of 2012 and then just saw each other for the first time since then in June and Lee and Sara's wedding and realized that we really should be friends! She was only in Iowa for a short time, but we were able to meet up at church on Sunday morning! It was so unexpected that we would be that close geographically that weekend, so it was just awesome that we were able to see each other.

THREE.

Next Monday starts my first ever DietBet, put together by a blogger that I follow, Skinny Meg. Basically, you pay $25 and that money is put into a pool. Then, in four weeks, if you lose 4% of your body weight, you split that pool with all the other winners. I have been slowly gaining weight over the past year, so I think if I have a monetary motivation to get my butt in gear, it might just be the jump start I need! Some things I'm going to implement during these four weeks to get me on track are:

1. No pop

2. Only one drink per day that isn't pure water

3. No fast food

4. Work out at least 30 minutes a day at least 4 days a week

5. Do meal planning
6. No unnecessary unnatural sugar
I don't necessarily have an problem with all the things listed above (like eating fast food) but I figured I'd just write them down as a goal anyway. I have a few more things in mind that I want to implement to stay on track, but I haven't made them into concrete goals yet, so I'll work on that this weekend! I do plan on having a "cheat day" when I can have pop, but I'll get them all figured out and written down for myself by Monday.  :)

FOUR.

I plan on doing this for my feet sometime soon, too! My feet don't look as bad as that person's left foot, but they are a little rougher than I'd like. Since I did the kitchen sink thing, I'm willing to try some of these other little tips that are floating around Facebook and Pinterest!

FIVE.

Tonight I'm going to a Zumba/Stella and Dot party put on by my BFF, Lauren. The party is going to start with a Zumba session and then end with some pretty jewelry. Lauren just recently became a Zumba instructor, so I'm super excited to take a class from her!! Yay!

Have a great weekend!