I have to start by saying that I have been the world's worst blogger lately. Seriously. My last post was in November announcing our pregnancy.... I feel like our life has changed so much since then! First of all, today (well when I actually started this post LAST week :/) is Trevor's 8 year anniversary in the Air Force and I could not be a more proud wife :) I happen to think my husband is really really awesome and I get excited to celebrate things like this with him (hence the brownies I made last night with horrible chicken scratch icing as I tried to write on them to celebrate lol!) I will spare you from a pic of them, our lovely community group got to witness my lovely brownie writing handwriting ;) Anyway, so today Trevor has been serving in the USAF for 8 years and it feels like time flies by faster each day! I actually created this blog a couple years ago to share about what God is doing in our lives and what He is teaching us in this crazy life we've been called to (aka "Called To The Crazy!)

So we've been here in Biloxi, MS for over 5 months now! Sometimes it feels like we just got here and sometimes it feels like we've been here forever because of how much this really does feel like "home" now. They say "Home is where the Air Force sends you", but unfortunately most military families know that that doesn't exactly come automatically...we have to make each place our new home. So that's what we've been doing the last few months here! When we first got here we found Mosaic, our new church and we were absolutely thrilled about it, we fell in love with it immediately. We knew once we got settled, we wanted to plug in and get involved in the church and join a community group as quickly as possible because our small group in TX was truly our family while at Fort Hood and we were missing them deeply. We tried connecting with a couple groups and logistically it just didn't work for our schedule and family and we were so bummed. After a few weeks of searching for a group to join, we started to feel discouraged and weren't sure what to do, so we started praying. Praying that God would reveal to community that we were supposed to be a part of. Well, he did, but that community didn't exist yet. We very quickly realized that there was a huge need of community in our base house neighborhood, West Falcon. At first we were resistant, I won't lie. We had just moved and are expecting our first baby, and honestly, we could have given you a laundry list of why we didn't feel like it was good timing for us to start a community group in our neighborhood. But that's just it, what we felt like doing wasn't relevant because we knew that God was calling us to do this and we needed to trust Him and jump on board! So we met with another couple, Mike & Jessi Farmer who had also been wanting to start a group in West Falcon, met with our community pastor, and in a few weeks, we were ready to tackle this task. Fast forward about 2 months, Trevor is now co-leading our group with Mike and we have about 8-10 couples who attend on a regular basis who all live in base housing. It is really a beautiful thing! We are big believers that God calls us to live among others, but we had never had the chance to experience living that out with our neighbors. It's amazing when you can literally walk from house to house to go see each other because we all live so close. Not only do we all live near one another, but we all have the common bond of being military families, which is huge. The last 2 months have been such a blessing and when I look back and think about the fact that we didn't FEEL like doing this, I think about all of the relationships and blessings we would have missed out on. I am a firm believer that God equips us for anything he puts on our heart and calls us to do, that's what leading is, to trust that God will direct you in every situation. I love how our church describes community groups and leading them, they always say that they are not looking for "qualified" people to lead groups, because that' doesn't exist. We are certainly not "qualified" to be doing this. Instead, it's people who are willing to step out and trust that God is going to build that community in their area, and that's what have done. We got to the point where even though starting a new group wasn't the "comfortable" or "easiest" thing to do at the time, it was what God was calling us to do, and He has blessed it greatly!

Last week for Easter our group put on a free Easter Egg hunt in our neighborhood for families. It was a great turnout and over 150 people came out, got to know their neighbors, and were invited to Mosaic's Easter Services. I never would have imagined that we would have that kind of turnout, the power of prayer is amazing!

Baby update time! I know a few of you were wondering when I'd give an update on our little man :) Landon Scott will be here soooo soon! I'm 32 weeks this week, which means we get to meet him in the next 8 weeks or so (hopefully he won't be too late, but if he is, it's okay!). We are so so excited to meet him! We were able to do a 3D/4D ultrasound last weekend and it melted my heart to see Landon, he is absolutely PRECIOUS and it made us even more excited to meet him! I'm so thankful God has given me such a healthy pregnancy with very little complications to this point, babies really are such miracles!

We have also been blessed with two baby showers for our little guy, one here in MS with my bible study girls and one in Texas with friends/family. What a blessing they were to us! It's such an incredible feeling to know that we have people who love and support us growing our family.

Beautiful bible study girls in our neighborhood <3

My trip to Texas with Kim was absolutely amazing! It was wayyy too short but it was so good for my heart to see everyone again, we miss our Texas family dearly. The shower was also incredible! Those girls know me sooo well and they made every little detail to fit Landon's antique world traveler nursery theme, it was breathtaking! I can't wait to post pics of everything in it's new home in his nursery, that will be my next blog post ;)

Antique map with pins of where we've lived & traveled as a USAF family :) 

These two girls were the minds behind the shower & it was everything I imagined and MORE! <3 you both so much!

Some of our Fort Hood girls, it was so so good to spend time
with them again. This was our FAMILY when we were at Fort Hood! <3

Finding out about our little bean!

Back in September, I was so so sick. I went to the doctor the first time and came home with them telling me I had "the funk" that's going around and they said there was nothing I can do about it...sleep it off. The next day, I woke up with SERIOUS ear pain...I felt like I was 6 years old again with my chronic ear infections, so back to the doctor I went. I tried to explain to a fill in provider that I did not think I just had "the funk". She told me that I had an upper respiratory infection that is unfortunately viral, so no antibiotics, just a ton of Mucinex, ibuprofen, etc. At this point, before taking all these meds, I just had this feeling I should ask this question. I looked at the lady and said "Hey, in the small chance that I could be pregnant this month, would these medications hurt the baby?" And she said "yes possibly, let's do a pregnancy test to rule it out." Okay... I had told Trevor that they were doing the test just to "rule it out" before they gave me meds. As you can imagine, when the nurse called me back and said it's POSITIVE, I about fell out of my chair...actually I think I about hit the car in front of me because I was driving (oops!). 

Should I tell Trevor right away or wait until he gets home? Hrmmm... I decided to wait! When he got home from work that afternoon I was laying in bed, where I had been laying the last two days so nothing seemed out of the ordinary. I was taking my temperature and I asked him to read the temperature as I switched the thermometer with a home pregnancy test. He was so surprised and excited! He said he had a feeling I was pregnant when I kept telling him "that nurse won't call me back with my results" LOL :) So this is the day we found out our world was changing in a very exciting way, it was September 20th, a very special boy's 1st birthday...Hudson Ray Timmons, we love you! 

So now what?? I'm as sick as a dog and we just found out the most exciting news of our lives. Help!!!! It was so hard because I wanted so badly to jump up in down and scream but instead all I could do was lay there lol. So we celebrated when I felt better :) So that's our story of how we found out...def not the story I expected to have, that's for sure! So next time you go to the doctor, ask the question because you never know ;) 

The next several weeks were a whirlwind for sure! I left for Biloxi 3 days later for a girls "house hunting" trip with Jill, Britt, and Em and not only was I still quite SICK with an upper respiratory infection, but I was also preggo and trying to keep it a secret! I had told Jill before we left but Britt and Em had no idea, or so I thought. Two days into the trip, I couldn't keep it in anymore and I knew they (or at least Em lol) was getting suspicious. Jill would say things like "Hey, I'm gonna go grab Al some crackers" or "No, you shouldn't jump in that picture with Em"... Em, being as observant as she is, had already texted her husband and told him she thought I was preggo ;) So it was time to reveal our secret on the BEACH! I gave Jill the camera and told Em and Britt I wanted to play a game where you yell something crazy out and make a face based on what she says. No one could think of anything, so Jill blurts out "Al is pregnant!!!" Their faces were priceless. Britt didn't even believe me, she thought we were joking :) Here's the pics from it:

The next month we spent preparing to PCS to Keesler AFB in Mississippi and I think I survived solely by the grace of God. Thank you to everyone who was praying for us, maybe not even knowing why. I'll be honest, this first trimester has been really tough. I have had morning sickness and puked DAILYfrom 5 1/2 weeks and I am still puking at 12. I know this is very common in your first trimester and I am thankful for this sickness because it has meant a healthy blessing so far :) Moving was def a challenge but Trevor and I had a lot of support and we knew that the Lord would provide a way since this little bean was His idea and perfect plan <3 

Here's a pic of Chels too! She was kissing little bean on her last trip to Fort Hood before we left <3

Next blog post...An update and pics of our new home! Thanks for rejoicing with us <3

"Children are a heritage from the Lord,
    offspring a reward from him." -Psalm 127:3 

Keesler update -- Could this really be our new home?

I'm sitting in a Starbucks on base at Keesler to get out of TLF (temporary lodging facility) for a bit enjoying a yummy holiday drink. Only fail... they don't offer free wifi, say what?!? I walked up to the barista and asked what their wifi name was and she told me they didn't offer it, that's interesting in 2012 in a coffee shop. Oh well. It's probably because this Starbucks is in the middle of the BX (base exchange). 

So back to my title of this blog... As Trevor and I keep driving around Biloxi and the surrounding towns, I keep asking myself "Is this really real? Could this really be home?" I'm not totally convinced yet for those of you who are wondering! This place just feels like a vacation destination, especially since Trevor and I have visited here 3 times over the last two years, the difference is we always end up driving back to Texas after a few days and instead, we are getting the keys to our HOME here tomorrow!

We have been in TLF for almost a week now and I will be honest, I'm going a bit stir crazy (anyone surprised?!) TLF is super nice here and has a living room, full kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom so it is def a blessing and nothing to complain about... I'm just ready to get settled :) Tomorrow we will be getting the keys to our house so we can start painting before our household goods get dropped off on Tuesday! We went to Lowe's today and picked out paint colors for our living room and I absolutely can't wait! Since we are living in base housing, the homes are very track home-ish and the walls are VERY white. White is everywhere! For those of you who have been in our home in Texas, you know, we hardly had any white walls in our entire home...and we loved it! So the painting is beginning tomorrow and then all of our belongings will arrive on Tuesday and we will get to sleep in our own BED, Trevor is beyond thrilled! He's not so much thrilled about not having TV or internet for 3 extra days, but I think he'll live...he just doesn't know how much is going to be on his honey-do list yet ;) jk!

One of the things that feels so unreal about being here is that we live RIGHT next to the beach. I have never in my life lived even within 4 hours of the ocean and it is GORGEOUS! When you drive up and down the highway here, you stare at the ocean (talk about distractions when you're driving!) The other big change is that we are on an Air Force base and not an Army post. Everything is different. We're on a base instead of a post. We shop in the BX instead of the PX. There is SF driving around instead of MP's. People are walking around in Air Force uniforms and Air Force t-shirts. I see blue and white instead of green. It is all just so bizarre! 

Everything here also seems so calming and safe and has this sense of a community. I was trying to explain it to Trevor last night and the best way I could describe it is that it feels like a college campus. It reminds me of those cool mornings at Baylor when I would get up super early for class, go grab my coffee, and go sit on a bench in the middle of campus and read. It probably also has to do with the fact that this is a training base so there are "students" everywhere. All the newbie Airmen are walking around (a lot of them in their uniform 24/7 because they are straight out of basic training) and it feels as if you are living on a college campus, I love it! 

Would you believe you lived here if this is what you saw? 

Biloxi lighthouse (not my photo!)

All I can do is thank the Lord for this incredible gift. It has been so hard to leave our "family" at Fort Hood, but we could not have asked for a nicer place to be sent and for that we are thankful. We do have a couple friends here that we are hoping to spend more time with and even went out with some friends last night and had a great time! We went to Mosaic Church again this morning and loved it just as much as last time, I think that will be home for us in Biloxi! Next blog should be about painting and going from an empty WHITE walled home to a painted, decorated, and full home :) Stay tuned... we are excited <3