Tuesday Night Softball

For the past 3 years during the spring, summer, and fall our Tuesday nights have been filled with softball. The softball team is made up of guys that go to our church. All of these guys are special to us and have taught us so many things about spirituality, marriage, and sportsmanship. Jared has been the coach for the team for the past 2 years and truly enjoys it. We usually have a time of fellowship and eating before or after the game which always blesses both of us.The flip side is that I have really got to know all of the wives of the guys. They have all become special friends to me. It's amazing how God can work through something like softball to bring a group of wonderful guys and girls together. Christian friends are such a blessing to both of us. After Tuesday nights game (which was the last of the summer season) the guys gave Jared an Ipod to thank him for being their coach. To say the least Jared was truly touched. It really meant so much to him. Thank you God for wonderful christian friends that truly care about us.

100 Things About Me

Ok I thought this was a very interesting challenge. I have seen it on other blogs and learned new things about friends. So here goes in no particular order (this is a random list, but those who know me will not be surprised by this) ....

1. I was born in Southern, Illinois.
2. I have lived in Texas for most of my life now.
3. But I will never consider myself a Texan
4. My first date with Jared was at Starbucks
5. I wanted to get coffee in case he was weird I could get out quickly
6. I don't drink coffee
7. I love to swim but I am not fast
8. I have always wanted to know what I would look like with jet black hair
9. I am a naturally messy person
10. I changed this for Jared
11. I used to watch football just to be with Jared
12. Now I really love it
13. Our baby is due 4 days after our 5th anniversary
14. We both think this would be the best anniversary gift God could give us
15. I never really knew about God's grace until I went to ACU
16. I have no cousins- my parents were only kids
17. I love Beatles music and at one time owned all of their albums
18. I love Rocky movies and the Godfather movies
19. My favorite movie is Schindler's List
20. My #1 non- spiritual goal is to be debt free including our house
21. I have been lucky enough to find a job that fits the talents God gave me
22. I have 7 nephews and no neices
23. I have always admired people who are good athletes
24. I love to play sports but I am not very good
25. I like watching golf on TV because it makes me sleepy
26. I can usually talk sports with the best of them (Thank you Jared and my bros)
27. I think the Cubs will win the World Series in my lifetime
28. I think the greatest place to vacation in the US is Washington, DC
29. I admire my Mom because she pursued her dream at age 60
30. She works in Washington, DC in the Senate and loves every minute. I am so proud
31. I think my 3 brothers are some of the funniest people I know
32. I have great respect for people that make tough choices and sacrifice
33. I still believe in President Bush
34. I once waved at him from 10 feet away on the White House lawn
35. I have the picture to prove it
36. I once drove a Volvo that would keep running when you took the key out
37. My first job in Dallas was at Parkland ER
38. It was the most fascinating job I have ever had
39. I have been in the White House and stood outside the oval office
40. I have lived in Chicago, Phoenix, Abilene, Wichita, and Fort Worth
41. I once went to a Rolling Stones concert with my Dad and sat on the 2nd row
42. I was baptized when I was 12
43. But I really understood what it meant when I was 30
44. I love the old hymns
45. I love to dance with Jared
46. But we never go dancing
47. I love the job of paying our bills
48. I think it's amazing how God provides for us over the years
49. My main spiritual goal is to develop my prayer life this year
50. I love praying with Jared
51. I consider myself to be a good driver
52. My favorite TV show is Law & Order
53. I swam on the neighborhood swim team until I was 13
54. I was the slowest swimmer on the team
55. I hate fresh fruit
56. But I love dried fruit
57. I have to read before I go to sleep no matter how late it is
58. I have just recently learned to speak my mind and not feel guilty
59. I got the chicken pox when I was 3
60. I was convinced it was because I had just eaten Frankenberry cereal
61. I have 3 brothers
62. It never crossed my mind that I wanted a sister
63. I believe men make better co- workers than women. Less gossip.
64. I love being a mortgage underwriter
65. I did a triathlon this past May
66. It is my goal to do another one after the baby is born
67. When I first became pregnant I thought we were having a girl
68. Now I have no inkling of what we are having
69. All of my friends think we are having a girl
70. I have a dry, sometimes sarcastic sense of humor
71. This sometimes offends people who have a "wet" sense of humor
72. I love political science
73. I inherited this love from my Mom
74. Jared and I probably would not have met if September 11th hadn't happened
75. The first time I told Jared I loved him- he started talking about mobile homes
76. It was not funny at the time
77. It's one of our favorite stories now
78. Jared and I have about a million inside jokes and our own special language
79. This is one of the things I love most about our marriage
80. We went to London for our Honeymoon
81. My favorite trip with Jared was when we went to Disneyland
82. We thought it was funny to watch the parents wrestle with their screaming kids
83. We now realize the joke will be on us in a couple of years
84. I have found out that if I have a bad first impression of people it is wrong
85. I think pregnancy is simply amazing and I am in awe of God everyday because of it
86. I hate summers in Texas
87. I miss the seasons in Chicago, especially the fall
88. I love to follow rules
89. I love blizzards from Dairy Queen
90. I love having blonde hair and think blonde jokes are hilarious
91. Grammatical errors are a pet peeve of mine, especially using their, there & they're wrong
92. I can spot spelling errors in published books I read
93. I am card carrying member of 2 libraries
94. I can't wait to see what Jared will be like as an old man
95. I think he will still make me laugh all day long
96. I wish my family lived closer to each other
97. I love our church family and have been blessed with wonderful christian friends
98. I thank God everyday that he led me to marry Jared Gowens
99. I feel covered by prayer
100.My favorite bible verse is Hebrews 13:5

Prayers Needed for Precious Ones

Things are really slow at work and this has given me the opportunity to catch up on some blogs of some of my friends. Anyone who has ever looked at blogs know that one blog will lead you to another and then another. In my blog travel today I have come across 3 precious little ones who need prayers for their health. First, please pray for a little boy born August 20th named Bennet. He is in critical condition at the NICU in Georgetown, DC. The family specifically needs prayers for the clearing of an infection in his lungs. This is their first child. Please pray for his parents who are constantly at his bedside. They are putting the life of their child in God's hands, singing praise songs to him, whispering scriptures in his ear and praying with him constantly. The next dear one is Caden Ledbetter. He is 2 years old and was diagnosed with stage IV neuroblastoma( this is the most advanced stage.) He is going through Chemo right now. The family is specifically asking for prayers that the side effects of the chemo will be minimal and that it will heal their son. The third is a little girl that Jared and I know from church. Her name is Ava and she had open heart surgery last week to repair a hole in her heart. She is doing really well and is at home now. Praise God! All three of these kids have faithful parents that believe God will deliver their children from sickness and bring them through the worst. All of these stories inspired me so much today. I thank God so much for leading me to their stories. Please keep all of these families in your prayers. Please hug your kids tight and know how precious they are to our heavenly Father!

Jared's 29th Birthday Party

We decided to have Jared's party on Sunday night because his birthday falls on a Tuesday this year. We had over 25 people in our house at one time including Jared's Mom, sister, Nephews Caden and Toby, brother Blair and Jay and friends from church. We all had a blast! We ate sandwiches, cupcakes and played games. We played about 10 rounds of Catch Phrase classic boys against girls. I don't have to tell you who won that one. Ask any of the girls! At one point in the evening I looked around and thanked God so much for blessing us with such wonderful friends and family. Jared and I have been so blessed to meet so many wonderful couples from our church. Some people want extravagant things for their birthday but Jared's best Birthdays have been the ones where he is surrounded by friends and family.

George Costanza Inspiration

The main symptom of pregnancy that has taken me by surprise the most is being tired. Let's be honest here, I have been down right exhausted! The exhaustion usually hits me the strongest right after lunch. I was sitting at my desk the other day thinking about how much I would love to just lay my head down and have a quick nap and that's when I got inspired. I remembered this Seinfeld episode where George Costanza has a carpenter build him a secret compartment under his desk where he can take afternoon naps. He sets himself up with an alarm clock so he doesn't oversleep.He even has a nice blanket so he can really get a good snooze in. Brilliant! If only I lived in the Seinfeld world!

God's Match

As I was sitting in the waiting room at the Dr's office yesterday I was going through all of my normal emotions. It starts with nervous thoughts (what if something is wrong with the baby?), then all of the "what ifs" creep into my head (too scary to mention here). I am bouncing my leg up and down and wringing my hands. Than I look over at my husband and see this calm relaxed look on his face. And I am reminded again of why God brought us together. Two people who came from 2 drastically different backgrounds that work together so well. He looked at my face in the waiting room and knew exactly what I was thinking and said "Baby, everything is going to be ok." I love this man! I thank God everyday for our marriage. We truly are best friends. I don't care what we are doing. Even if it's just driving around on the week ends with no particular destination I just love being next to him. God has done wonderful things with this man that I love. He is tenderhearted, compassionate, loving, thoughful, and most of all he loves God so much. Our little one is so blessed to have Jared as their Dad. People say that I will fall in love with Jared all over again when I see him with our child. Impossible! I'm still falling!

The Sweetest Sound We've Ever Heard!

This morning we heard the heartbeat and it was absolutely wonderful. The Dr. said everything sounded great. The baby's heartbeat was 156 BPM, which is in the middle range. Yeah! We were on top of the world. We enjoyed a delicious lunch at Mi Cocina afterward. Of course we discussed with the Dr. the all important topic of when we could find out if the baby is a boy or girl and he said we could find out around September 21st! Although he said that by now it had already been decided. So exciting! Just another testament to God's truly amazing power. Praise Him!

Hello Everyone!

Well, today we are going to hear your heartbeat today, and I am very excited for this. This will be the first sounds of life from our little treasure and for everyone that has a child understands this. We are getting very excited about finding out if we will be having Little Jared or Kate Elizabeth next month. Betsy pretty much already knows what she is wanting for the room either way, we just cant wait to start decorating. I read Jay's comments on Betsy's "can you blame this on pregnancy" and Jay you are certainly correct. :)
Bets will laugh when she reads that. She wanted my comments on some things about how she has been different and I acted like I couldnt hear her! I had my attorny plead the 5th for me. I have been talking to our baby this past week to let him/her know that we will hear his/her heartbeat this week. I just love Betsy for being a strong woman and following our savior, Jesus Christ! She is my rock and behind every man is an even greater woman. I will cherish our little child because this is ours together made out of God's love for us and one another. Well, thats about my time limit. Take care and God bless! Jared

Can I blame this on pregnancy?

Please let me know if the following antics can be blamed on pregnancy. Coincidentally I have done all of these since I got pregnant. Tell me what you think....

1. Knocking a whole glass of water onto my keyboard and computer and work.
2. Not knowing where a restaurant is that I pass by everyday on my way to work
3. Getting my shoe stuck in the crack of a sidewalk and the tip of the heel breaking off.
4. Going to bed more than 3 times before 9 PM
5. Going to the printer at work twice to get something and knowing that I didn't press print
6. Refusing to clean out my car (ok I realize that one is a long shot)
7. Having an unusual interest in the game show network
8. Getting a blog
9. Telling stories that go nowhere!
10 Eating cereal for dinner (Lucky Charms!)
11. Crying at an Andy Griffith episode

Ok I realize that most everyone that knows me will read this and say "Nah, that's just you!" That may be. But for the next 6 months I have a pretty good back up excuse!

Tri Mom!

Ok I am really putting myself out there on this one. The picture above was taken
May 20,2007, almost 3 months ago. This is a picture of my wonderful husband and I after I finished my first sprint triathlon. My sprint triathlon consisted of a 300 meter swim, 13.1 mile bike, and 3.1 mile run. I had a ball! I loved every minute of it. And for this high school bench warmer it was a definite accomplishment. The smile I had in this picture was the smile I had coming across the finish line. Here's what I want to do. Next year , (sometime next year, I'm not going to pin myself down on a date) I want to be able to post a picture of me, Jared and our new baby after a I do a Triathlon. This is a bold goal I know. But this is how I did my first triathlon. I told everyone I was doing it. That way I figured, I couldn't back out because I knew everyone would ask me about it.So here I am making it public. Look for the picture in 2008!

The Brednich Boys

I love this picture because it is the first time in a long time I was able to get a picture of the Mexico City Brednichs and the Austin Brednichs together (My nephew Tabor couldn't make it that week end but we will get that picture soon Ihope.)Left to right and in order of birth are Caden, age 7, Reece age 4, Chase age 2, and Piersen age 4 months. I love all of their personalities together. Caden is inquisitive, pensive, and tender. Reece (also known as Reecer to all of us) is thoughtful, cheerful and already has the unique talent of making everyone around him feel special (he complimented me on my flowers and how nice I looked and said how nice Jared's yard was). Chaser is a go getter and has a smile that will warm your heart. He is right on his brother's heels and wants to do everything Reece does. He's all boy and loves rough and tumble play. He reminds me of my brother Burke when he was little. Burke would fall from the highest place and take the hardest fall and still get up and say, "Whoah!"Piersen is the newest member of the Brednich Boys. He is a happy and calm baby. All the Brednich Boys have wonderful parents who have contributed greatly to their sweet and fun loving nature. I thank God for these wonderful boys and I cherish everytime I get to see them. When they leave I always ask God to keep them safe until we see each other again. I feel so thankful to know them.

Caden and Uncle Betsy

Caden is my oldest nephew. Being my first nephew he is very special to me. I remember the day he was born. My brother Brig, called me from the hospital room in Colorado. What a special day that was. I met Caden about 1month later and he has had a special place in my heart ever since. He calls me Uncle Betsy. He has another Aunt and he calls her Auntie Carolyn , but he has always called me Uncle Betsy. He still calls me Uncle Betsy and he is almost 8. I hope it never changes! The picture at the top was taken in June. Caden is 7 years old now. The bottom picture was taken in June of 2003 when Caden was 3.I can't believe how much he's changed. I remember how much he loved Sponge Bob Square Pants. I love how everytime we're together he asks me questions and tells me things about his life. His younger cousins love him. In June we all got to be together and Reece and Chase wanted to be everywhere Caden was, wanted to eat what Caden was eating etc. Caden is a precious person. His heart is solid gold just like his Dad. He has such a tender heart for everyone around him. I am so proud to have him as my nephew. I love you Caden!

I LOVE this Face!!!

This is my precious nephew Chase. And this is his "Smile for the camera" face. I absolutely love this picture. I am laughing and smiling even as I write this post. I have put this picture in my cubicle at work. Whenever I am having a bad day, whenever my job really gets to me I just look at this picture and instantly brighten up. It really does work everytime! Thank you so much Chaser for making my day so wonderful everyday even though you live thousands of miles away! Your parents and brothers are so fortunate to have you around everyday.

My Belly Buddy

When I first found out I was pregnant there was 1 person I wanted to tell outside of our families first. My friend Jodi and I have bonded over so much in the past 3 years that we have known each other. Our husbands are also close friends which is such a bonus. Anyway, I was a little reluctant about telling Jodi because I knew how much she wanted to be pregnant so I put off telling her. I wanted to tell her in person when no one was around. Well, the chances kept passing me by. One day I was driving home from work and Jodi called me. When I saw her name on the cell I said to myself "ok you have to tell her." We started talking about general things when suddenly SHE says, "Well Betsy I have something to tell you." I said ok. She said "Derek and I just found we're pregnant!" Silence. Then I screamed (literally screamed into the phone) " We are to!!!!" For the next couple of minutes we were screaming back and forth. It was crazy. I can't tell you what kind of happiness I felt for my friend and Derek at that moment. We decided that we wouldn't tell the guys because they get together for breakfast every Friday morning (which was going to be the next morning). I got home and Jared and I started dinner and I held my ground. Well I guess Miss Jodi caved because the next thing I know I get this call. She said we want to come over I told Derek. I was elated that I didn't have to keep the news from Jared any longer. Before they got to our house I told Jared that I had told Jodi about our pregnancy and they were coming by to congratulate us. Jodi and Derek got to our house and we are all standing around talking and Derek said ," Jared, how does it feel to be the odd man out?" Jared's face was so hilarious, very puzzled. Huh? Derek said "Well we came by to congratulate you but to also tell you that we're pregnant to." Jared's face just lit up. It was so unbelievably cool. Jodi and I have always supported each other but this experience to gether gives it a whole new meaning. We email each other during the day and literally get each other through the days. Jodi is about 3 weeks ahead of me. Her due date is February 1st. We always marvel at how awesome God is that he would bless us both at the same time. Many blessings and memories await all of us. God bless the Tuley family. We love you guys!

It will go by so fast!!!

I think this is a lie people tell you so that you can be comforted in your first trimester. On Tuesday I was 11 weeks. I feel like it is such a miracle to be in the double digits. I promise you I have been 9 weeks pregnant for what seems like 10 years! This is the amazing time in pregnany when YOU feel your body changing so much but you have little to show for it on the outside. I have on and off days lately. Somedays I feel really good and other days I am looking at my watch at work and saying "Ok just 3 more hours until I can be on the couch." My friend told me that the first 3 months of pregnancy are the equivalent to mountain climbing everyday. That made me feel a lot better about being so tired. Every morning I wake up wondering if I will see my tummy grow. Now I think I have examined it so much that I can't really tell. I know Moms reading this blog are saying "Oh don't worry you'll be able to tell!" I can't wait!