No More Google Reader

If you peruse blogs you might have heard that come July, Google will no longer provide the Google Reader service. 

I didn't even know what Google Reader or any RSS reader was until about a year ago. When I realized that I could "follow" other blogs and they could all be compiled in my "reader" it was like a whole new world opened up to me.

Suddenly I didn't have to bookmark my favorite blogs in my browser or try to remember which ones I liked to read and search for them. They were all seamlessly compiled in my Google Reader where I could scroll through one by one. Google Reader told me which blogs had new posts so I could easily browse through the newest content on all my favorites. 

Going through my reader pretty much became my favorite way to procrastinate at work everyday. 

Kidding.

I was pretty disappointed to find out that there will no longer be Google Reader in July and I am still holding on to hope that they may change their minds, but in the meantime...

There are a couple alternative readers that I am trying to figure out in case Google doesn't read my blog and comply with my wishes. 

They are Bloglovin and Feedly. Here are some screen shots because this post would be boring without some pictures. 

If you have Google Reader, or are like I was not long ago and don't have any way to compile your favorite blogs, I would encourage you to try these.  

Just sign up, search for, and add all your favorite blogs (kind of like following friends on Twitter or Facebook). You can even import your Google Reader blogs into both of these services.

And if Yellow Brick Life happens to be one of the blogs you like, you can click on the tab at the top on my page that says "Bloglovin" or the one on the sidebar to follow there! 

I hope that didn't sound too in your face. I want you to like me but I would never try to tell you what to do. 

Anywho, happy reading! I'd better get back to work now...

Thankful

I thought it would be nice to link up with my friend Ryan today for Thankful Thursday since I spent yesterday sharing my woes. Not that there is anything wrong with sharing woes. I think it is really important to be real, especially when it comes to pregnancy. We girls tend to do a lot of comparing, self-criticizing, and trying to measure up to false standards set for us on the internet. Hello Pinterest... are those people real? I don't want this blog to ever be a place where I pretend to have all my junk together. 

But I also find it a healthy exercise to frequently count my blessings as they tend to be more numerous than I often realize. So here is a little list of things I am thankful for lately. 

1. I am thankful and flipping excited about my baby shower this weekend at home in Georgia. I can't wait to see so many people I love. I've got some really amazing friends and family. 

2. Our church. We have become a part of a really great church here in NOLA called Edgewater. It can be hard to find a church and we feel extremely blessed to be a part of this one. I could go on and on about it. 

3. Andrew's new job. Andrew got a connection through some new friends at Edgewater and is now working at the New Orleans Country Club. Not what he saw himself doing but a great opportunity nonetheless. We are excited, relieved, and blessed by this unexpected work. 

4. Flying home this weekend. Andrew now works every other weekend and as it turns out his first one is this weekend so he can't come to the baby shower. While I am sad about that, I am thankful to be able to fly home and avoid the long car ride. Thanks Don and Mama!

5. Lastly, I am thankful for the things God is teaching me right now. He has been gently showing me how His love is unconditional and completely unmerited by me. I am finding that there is so much freedom when I stop approaching my faith with a works based mentality and embrace the fact that because of Christ there is nothing I can do to earn or lose God's favor. No amount of prayer, Bible study, or "right living" (although those things are not bad) can make me any more righteous in His sight. 

Grace and grace alone people. 

And isn't it a relief?

... because Ryan is the coolest!

And then there was Friday

The past few days or so some of the first trimester ickiness has crept back into my life. Remember the other day when I was going on and on about healthy eating and exercising more and how I felt so great and awesome and yada yada.... Yeah.

So last Friday I came down with a case of the crazies and it has not relented. I literally woke up sad and paranoid for no reason.  

It really was weird because over the past several weeks I have had moments where I thought the world was so full of sunshine and happiness that I might burst. Then BAM, Friday hit. 

I should have been suspicious about the sunshine and happiness thing in the first place because that is kind of not like me either. But darn if it doesn't feel good. 

So since Friday, I have unwillingly taken on the weight of the world. I have cried over things that merit tears but have nothing to do with my life and things that do not merit tears and have everything to do with my life. 

The two police officers shot in New Orleans, tears.

The rip in the sheets we got for our wedding, tears.

And the list goes on. 

Maybe it's letting up because I don't think I have cried in about 24 hours but I could be wrong. Being up since 2:00AM isn't helping my thought processes.

Did I mention I'm not sleeping well? That's an issue for another blog post. Or no blog post at all since it mostly has to do with me and my bathroom.

I know this will all go away soon which is why I can laugh about it. Just pray for my dear husband. God love him.

And just so you have living proof that hormones are real and unstable, here is an Instagram I posted last week before Friday.

Yea, that's a picture of the sunshine with a caption that read, "So good to feel hot and sweaty during a workout again! #bringonspring" 

Snort.

If you want to follow the craziness, I'm chardonaldson. It's bound to be a good time.

Recipe, Rain, Research

And the Pioneer Woman does it again. 

We've been eating these this week and they are delish.

I took about 9000 shortcuts on this recipe and it was still pretty majorly great. 

via

I did not grate my own cheese. I did not cut up my own pineapple. I did not put a skewer through my pineapple. I did not pre-toast my tortillias. I did not use fresh jalapenos. 

And they were still the bomb. Try em!

In other news, the weather in this part of the country has gotten downright depressing. I can fully embrace a few cold and rainy days. I like to snuggle up with hot chocolate and be sleepy just as much as the next guy but after about three of those days I have reached my limit and currently we are pushing two weeks. 

It took me exactly one hour to get to the grocery store Monday because apparently when it rains people get into their cars and lose their minds. There was no danger involved in my taking this picture because I was going exactly 0 miles per hour... for a very long time.

We attended our first prenatal class last night. It was technically the second class but we missed the first one and are making it up in March. I was by far the least pregnant person there and the one taking the most notes. Five pages. Zeal is one of my best qualities. It was information overload and I am glad I have all of my notes to go back and do some research of my own on all the options for delivery. I am an information junkie and I want to know everything about everything that MIGHT happen to my body and baby. 

At the moment I feel like things tend to get a little over-medicated but I'm not ready to make any bold statements about that here on the blog. On the flip side, I am extremely grateful to be living in an age where we can know exactly what is going on with babies in delivery and have so many options for their health and safety. Amen? 

Winning

I have always had extraordinary luck winning raffles. Of course I don't win every raffle I enter but I can confidently say I win a lot. 

I don't remember where I was or how I won my first raffle but I know I was somewhere with my dad. I won an enormous Coca Cola double umbrella. As a very little kid, the best part of that experience was the feeling of winning something. I'm not sure I would be excited about this even as an adult...

Another time, my dad took me to a minor league baseball game in Huntsville, Alabama. My ticket stub was drawn from all the tickets sold that day and I got to go down on the field and race the mascot around the bases for a chance to win 4 tickets to the Space Station. I was  an extremely slow 5 year old but the mascot was supposed to let the kid win so I secured the tickets and got to do a little space exploration at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center. This was significantly cooler than a double umbrella. 

A few years later my mom signed me up for an etiquette class at our public library called "Tea and Etiquette with Alice." They were raffling off some pretty cool toys but the grand prize was an Alice in Wonderland Madame Alexander Doll. 

Y'all. 

I loved Madame Alexander dolls. If you have never heard of them, they are beautiful keepsake dolls that every little girl would have in a perfect world. My mom collected them as a child so I had all of hers plus the ones I had been given. Of course you know where this story is going. I won the Alice doll that day at the etiquette class. 

I remember nothing that was said about place settings or napkins in laps. However, I do remember holding that beautiful little doll in my hands for the first time (and discovering my extreme dislike of strawberry cream cheese tea sandwiches). 

Sometime later I sent in a magazine insert for entry in a Nickelodeon sweepstakes which were super popular in the 90's. I didn't win the grand prize but I did win the third prize; a back to school pack with a zippered Nickelodeon trapper keeper, a pack of paper, and 3 Yikes pencils. Best. Day. Ever.

My most recent raffle winning happened this week. I have been attending an apologetics conference with Andrew that is being held here at the seminary. He goes all day and I join at night. Last night they raffled off a book by Mary Jo Sharp, who was actually the speaker for the evening. 

This may sound arrogant or whatever but I kind of had a feeling that I would win something. And sure enough, "Come on down Charlotte Donaldson!"

I was so excited to win because the book is actually written for women. I was a little afraid I would win one of the super academicky books they had been giving away and end up passing it to Andrew. (Not to say that women don't enjoy super academicky books, just not THIS woman.)

I even got to have it signed by Mary Jo who turned out to be a really brilliant speaker. All I could think to say to her when she was signing was that I liked her manicure.  I don't imagine she hears that very often immediately after a lecture on apologetics.

I've still yet to win a truly big raffle or sweepstakes but I am crossing my fingers for this year's HGTV Dream Home. 

Shoot for the moon right?  

Hate Cannot Drive Out Hate

I, like most of the nation, am overwhelmed with sorrow for the events that took place in Connecticut last Friday. I think being a soon-to-be parent has made it even more overwhelming for me personally. 

I have read a few things lately that have helped me gather a little perspective on how to interpret such an unimaginable tragedy. 

I can't begin to fathom walking in the shoes of those who were affected most personally by Friday's loss but I will continue to pray for them, for their community, and for the bright future that still awaits them. 

This quote by Martin Luther King Jr. and this scripture from Romans seem to echo one another. I am bearing them in mind as I search for the best way to respond. 

Thank you to Molly and Jeanett for sharing them. I hope they will bless you as they have blessed me. 

Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”-Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

It's a... BOY!

So it’s official, we are having a baby BOY! We found out Monday at our 20 week ultrasound. Seeing our baby for the first time in many many weeks was one of the most exciting things I have ever experienced. It was so amazing seeing a recognizable baby rather than a teeny alien baby. He was perfect and beautiful and perfect!

We waited with so much anticipation all day for our appointment but the few minutes we sat in the waiting room felt like HOURS.

When the nurse was measuring all of his little baby body, I spotted the telltale parts and immediately said, “It’s a boy isn't it?!” She confirmed it and Andrew and I lit up with excitement.

When we left our appointment we immediately called our families to tell them the good news and that our precious baby boy would be named James Timothy. James is Andrew and his daddy’s first name and Timothy is my daddy’s first name.

That afternoon we ventured out baby shopping for the first time. We hit four baby stores. I think it was the most enthusiastically I had ever seen Andrew shop! We tried to use a little restraint and only bought one special thing for baby James, an adorable Christmas stocking from Pottery Barn Kids. I wanted to get him something that he would have forever and Andrew liked the train because his stocking growing up had a train on it. Now every year we will remind him that the stocking was the first gift mommy and daddy bought him when they found out he was James! (I am also going to have his name put on it.)

At 20 weeks, my tummy seems to be getting bigger and bigger. I am trying so hard not to go overboard with the Christmas goodies that abound but it has not been easy. My appetite is back in full force and I have cooked more the past 2 weeks than the entire time we have lived in New Orleans!!

 Gah! I can't believe we are past the halfway point. Here's to this being the BEST half!

Oh Baby

So, I haven't said a whole lot here on the old blog lately, mostly because the past 3 months have been, well... tough. 

I hate to complain because I know that so many people, friends of mine even, are longing for a little one and would trade the wait for my morning sickness any day.

But I've got to be real. There have been some days where I thought it would kill me. Days where I could not understand how anyone ever survived a pregnancy AND chose to do it more than once. Does pregnancy make you lose your food and your marbles?

I am super fortunate that I have been prescribed a medicine that seems to keep the actual vomiting at bay (not the nausea in its entirety) but EVERY time I have tried to stop taking it, guess what happens? Yes, even as recently and this Monday. Hello 15 weeks! I thought you would be a little more kind. 

I have had a few really good days sprinkled in lately. I have actually been able to stomach the smell of my kitchen and prepare food. Not everyday, but some. My appetite is better and I find myself more motivated to do things other than wear sweatpants and watch E News. 

So here's to things looking up! I am clinging to the hope that I WILL feel 100% better by 20 weeks, maybe even by Thanksgiving. Please Lord! 

In the meantime, here are some funny things that have happened since we have known about little Johnny Appleseed. And in case you didn't know, it's hip to compare your fetus to a fruit and ours is now the size of an apple. However, we wont know if it is a Johnny or June until early December.

Dear sweet husband of mine tried to order What to Expect When You are Expecting and we wound up with this. Somehow we skipped right past needing this manual.  

This book obviously gives useful advice. I mean who would have known without reading? 

And what baby wouldn't need a Whirlpool Bubbling Spa and Shower? Can we get that in my size?

I haven't read Fifty Shades of Grey so I would never have know it to be recommended for postnatal and postpartum care. hmm...

Isaac Headed My Way

     As most of you know hurricane Isaac is headed right in our direction. The news told me this morning that it is not as strong at this point as it was predicted to be so that's a plus. I did pray that it would just fizzle out so if in fact it does, let it be known that I bend God's ear in weather emergencies. 

I jest.

     Seriously though, the seminary is open and operating as usual today but we should expect to hear more later this morning. 

     There is already a run on gas but fortunately we filled up yesterday. I also went to the grocery store to buy some provisions in case we lose power. I didn't unload the groceries when I got home so that if we did evacuate, I could just grab them for the road. 

     This morning I was trying to find the almonds I bought and realized I left an entire bag at the grocery store and came home with someone elses Pilsbury Flaky Twists with Icing. 

Dern.

     I sincerely apologize to whomever was planning to ride out the storm with Flaky Twists... hopefully you made it back to the store quickly because I'm sure they were first to go in the hurricane pillage, they sound delicious.

     I think Andrew and I will survive. If only on apples and water. (Flaky Twists died from a lack of refrigeration)

Happy Monday to you all and here's to not getting blown away!

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