Update coming...

I promise! It's just a bit delayed as I am feeling quite yucky. I've been on the couch most of the day. Hopefully I'll be feeling better tomorrow. Until then I'll be ringing in the New Year - asleep in bed!

Said by my niece, Addie, on Christmas morning...

"Mom, Santa was here. He ate the cookies, left some presents, and there's poop in the yard!"

Weekend Update #7

Christmas is almost here! I am beyond excited. Jason and I will fly out on Christmas morning at 6:25 from Cleveland to Des Moines. We'll be in Iowa by 9 AM. Please pray for good weather!

This weekend got off to a fun start with an overnight visit from Matt and Steph. They were driving from New Brunswick to Dubuque - quite the journey! Luckily the Hubbard hotel is somewhere in between. They arrived at around 10:00 on Thursday night and left around 10:00 on Friday morning. It was a great visit even though it was short. Thursday night we sat around the table talking and eating pizza. Friday morning we split up - Jason and Matt went to IHOP for breakfast to talk about theology and all things John Piper, while Steph and I headed to Panera to talk about babies. It was so wonderful to see them - and we are sure they will be back - but who knows when?

It's after midnight and the boys are talking theology - notice the Bible is out!

Saturday we spent most of the day with Jim and Ashley. Ashley and I planned to do some Christmas baking together which turned out to be quite the project. We gave away a few plates to the neighbors and the mailman and Jason is taking the rest of the goodies in to work tomorrow to give to the resident men. Jason and Jim spent the day watching football and playing Settlers of Catan.

We've spent the rest of the weekend loafing - football, games, movies, etc. Tonight I am trying to finish up some cookies and cut up the rest of the fudge for Jason to deliver.

Those of you wanting an update on the other foods Baby doesn't like? Well add to the list the egg souffle from Panera - that one is a killer for me because it is one of my favorites! Steph and I ate those on Friday morning and soon after they left sure enough I was laid up on the couch. I shared with you my love for peppermint ice cream last week - but the problem is that we've been out of it for quite awhile and we've checked every grocery store, Target, and WalMart. This weekend while stopping at Target for a few things we hit paydirt! They must have gotten a shipment in that day. Three cartons were left - you should have seen Jason dive for the freezer door when he saw them, it was hilarious. We bought two - we thought three was a little gluttonous so we left the third one for another fortunate pregnant lady. And, yes, I had a bowl for breakfast. What's wrong with that?
I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas. I'll see you next week - my weekend update might be a bit late since we fly back into Cleveland on Sunday evening.

Snowball Fight!

Jason and I had a snowball fight against Addie, Reese, and my brother Jeff. I think it's clear who won - and I would just like to say for the record that we were outnumbered!

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Weekend Update #6

Snow, snow, and more snow! It started yesterday and is still coming down. We've been inside since we got back from church. I don't mind it - if it is going to be cold, it might as well look pretty outside!

Friday night we went to a Christmas program at The Chapel. It was beautiful - complete with Irish Dancers, a huge choir and orchestra, and all the talent from The Chapel's music department. Remember the guy who sounded like Josh Groban? He was there, along with the Dave Matthews Tribute Band (not really - but again, they sounded just like DMB!). The Irish Dancers were cool. They also had a few segments of interpretive dance - not our favorite part :) But overall, it was a really neat concert and totally worth the $5 per ticket.

Is it just me or does the world smell way worse when you are pregnant? I've always been the owner of a bionic nose - but this is crazy. During the concert, I could smell my neighbor clearly who obviously had enough to drink during dinner (for the record, I'm NOT talking about Jason, LOL). This man smelled like an alcoholic. Ugh. Don't get me started on smokers! PU! I'm sure anyone who has been pregnant can relate!

Saturday we went to the grocery store to get a few things before the storm hit - apparently we had the same idea as the rest of Akron. I wish I had my camera to show you how many people were in that store. Every checkout line was packed with a minimum of ten carts in each line. We made it through after 30 minutes of waiting. A teenager behind me said "Dad, we are going to have to eat all this food before we get up there!"...hahaha!

We caught an afternoon matinee of "Alvin and the Chipmunks" just for fun. It was snowing and the theater is only about a mile from our apartment. We both really enjoyed it. If you grew up listening to the Chipmunks records and watching them on TV like I did, you'll like it. It's cute and very clean. It's pretty funny, too and considering it's a kids movie, we expected it to be cheesy but it wasn't.

Saturday night we watched DVD's of Law and Order: SVU that we got from the library. Bored, bored, bored!

For the record, Baby H does not like chili, quiche, tortilla chips, cheese or pizza. Baby H likes toaster waffles, toast, cereal, orange juice, ginger ale, and peppermint ice cream (thank you, Lord). That's what I've learned this week. I've spent quite a bit of time this week just laying still trying not to anger my stomach!

Also, time to 'fess up if you own a Christmas sweater. They are everywhere! I am surrounded by Christmas sweaters! They are taking over Ohio! Help! Anyone else notice the overabundance of Christmas sweaters in their area? (Mom, I know you own one, but I'll give you a pass since you are an elementary teacher, haha!)

Nine more days until Christmas! Woohoo! We are getting on a plane first thing on Christmas morning and should arrive in Des Moines by 9 AM. I can't wait to go home. We are also looking forward to Matt and Steph's visit this Thursday night. Yeah! Bring on the festivities.

Look for your limited edition Hubbard Christmas portrait to arrive in the mail this week!

Say Cheese!

We don't even have kids yet and its hard to get a Christmas picture!

"Away in a Manger..."

This is my favorite photo of a Christmas pageant gone awry! I snapped this a couple of years ago during the ACC Christmas program. I didn't even know what I was capturing, but when I downloaded it to my computer, what I saw was priceless! I am still laughing about it!

If you click on the photo to open it in a new window, you can really see their expressions. Hilarious!

Weekend Update #5

Happy six month anniversary to us!

I don't have much else to say except...

We are expecting a baby next August!

We can't keep it quiet much longer!

That's all you really need to know about this week...so I'll wrap it up and allow you to post your congratulatory comments.

We still have a long road ahead of us and would appreciate your prayers.

You may now officially call me Mother Hubbard.

P.S. If you already knew this news, pretend that you didn't :)

Our gifts to each other

Last year Jason and I started a tradition of giving each other ornaments to populate our tree. We like to give them early so they still get some solid "hang time" on the tree. Can you guess which ornament belongs to me and which belongs to Jason?

The coffee ornament belongs to Jason - I thought it appropriate since he stumbles to the coffeemaker first thing in the morning. He also has bunny slippers just like those! Hahaha! The nativity scene is mine - I love nativity scenes and am slowly collecting them.

Weekend Update #4

What we did this weekend: (in a nutshell)
Grocery Store, Library, Scrabble, Card Games, Movies, Reading, Football, Napping, Peanut Butter Fudge, Relaxing. THERE! I'm signing off, this blog is done!

Ha ha, you aren't getting off that easy! Here's the real update...how are we doing?

What's new with our house?
We are going on five months on the market and no buyers. Just this week we had two very interested buyers (a single lady and a younger couple) who both decided to "pass" on buying a house at all. Bummer! Looks like we will own this condo into the spring, at least. It's sad to me because I am starting to resent this house and the fact it hasn't sold. This house was such an exciting purchase for me - I loved everything about it - it was perfect for me! It meant independence, no longer being a slave to rent, and it was a great investment. Jason and I had four great months as newlyweds in that house - we would have uprooted it and moved it to Ohio if we could have. Now I want to be rid of it and consider it only a financial strain. Grrrr!

However...I know the Lord is teaching us to trust Him to sell our house. I believe it will happen, and not a moment before He has planned! The wait is what kills me.

How is Jason's job?
He loves it. This ministry is why we moved here...and I'm thrilled when Jason comes home happy and content with his work. He works primarily with the men who are residents at the Haven of Rest. They come from a variety of different backgrounds - maybe from the streets, maybe from a difficult family situation, maybe from a tragedy - but at one time they all decided they needed help and ended up at the Haven. Jason is able to share his story with these men. They all live and work at the mission. Okay, I'll let Jason take it from here:

As far as what I (Jason here) actually do, well let's just say that changes from day to day. My primary responsibilities include overseeing the men to make sure they are making it to class, their jobs, the learning center,etc... on time. Occasionally I will teach a class or two. The teaching will expand with time. I am also on the schedule to do a chapel service for the homeless men and women a few times a month. In the future I will need to work toward getting formal training in counseling (the mission wants us to get all settled in first!). Overall I love my job and I actually do look forward to going to work. Praise God for His faithfulness (1 Timothy 1:12-17)!

How am I doing with the adjustment?
Most of you know that Jason knows quite a few people in the area. I, however, knew about the people here, but didn't have any established relationships. This has been a struggle for me, because living in Dubuque I was surrounded by friends and always had someone to talk to or hang out with. I'm honestly doing okay; just with occasional bouts of loneliness. My dear husband is very patient with me. I think the loneliness is compounded by the fact that I am working from home and spend lots of time with me, myself, and I. I am joining a BSF group this week (Bible Study Fellowship) that meets on Wednesday mornings. I am looking forward to getting to know a few different ladies through this ministry and also study the Word. We also have established a few relationships here and I'm enjoying getting to know the ladies that work at the Mission - they are all a caring, fun-loving bunch - and they think Jason is great, so that means they have to like me!

We did notice that my name is not always remembered...I think it's funny; I'm really not offended. I have enough trouble with names! Just this morning we saw a couple at church. They said "HELLO Jason!!" and then looked at me and said "Hello there!"...we laughed, and I said I'm just going to save everyone the trouble and change my name to "there" :)

Have we found a church?
No. But we haven't missed a Sunday! We are still spending time at The Chapel, and I would be fine with making that our church home. However, we feel like we need to look around a bit before settling down. We will likely try a new church next Sunday. Today's service was great - the speaker was Knute Larson (aka Charles Stanley) - he is probably our favorite speaker, but he's retiring at the end of the year! They also celebrated the Breaking of Bread a different way, by having everyone "come to the table" instead of passing around the elements. It was mass chaos for awhile, but we found our way and when we got back nobody had stolen my purse, LOL! I still miss ACC's Breaking of Bread but I'm confident we will find a church that feels like "home" in time.

Jason and I are learning anew that the Lord loves us, provides for us, and desires us to trust in Him. We've had a few downers this week, yet at the same times we've had peace about what is in store. We've also had some great news this week. And as I learned in church a few Sundays ago, "Remember God from hard times for better days are near and these too are His provision." Thanks for reading our blog, and for praying for us! We love you!

P.S. Only 23 days until Christmas! We'll be home in Atlantic for five days, I can't wait! We also have a visit from Matt and Steph to look forward to. Then the second week of January I'll be heading to Dubuque for a few days for meetings. Girls, we must plan a get-together for sometime during the 7th - 10th!!!