Just another day...

My family

I haven't blogged in a while and I have had a lot on my mind, but not a whole lot worth writing about honestly. However, I did plan on blogging more frequently when I started this. That means that today I will blog and as uninteresting and unoriginal as it might be, I've decided to write about my day.

 One of my favorite things, recently, is getting up on Sunday mornings and getting to be on the worship team, at church, with my husband. I love to worship by singing and doing it as a family is even better! This morning Kyle and I woke up early, got showered and dressed, packed a bag for the little guys, woke them up and got them dressed, made sure they had breakfast (and made sure I had my Diet Coke) and we were out the door by 7:30, heading to church. We were supposed to be there at 7:30, but I thought we did pretty well. Being part of a church family has been a huge blessing to us. While we were up on stage during second service, I looked down at my 2 year old and he was raising his hand, praising God. It was like a little hug to my heart. It was a reminder how impressionable he is and how he really wants to be like mommy and daddy. That single moment had to be my favorite of the whole morning. The sermon was good too! My heart had been a little heavy the past couple days. I know God has the perfect plan, I know he loves me more than anyone else, I know he cares for me today and always, I know, I know, I know....but today I just didn't feel it in my heart. I prayed. I worshiped. God is awesome and capable of handling me even when I am stubborn and want things the way I want them. It's so funny that I still struggle with letting go of my plans when I've seen how they've turned out without seeking God for the right direction.




Brody my little fireman.



After church it was lunch. The boys were hungry and tired and we were a little short on cash, so McDonald's was the restaurant of choice. Luckily I never watched all those videos people were posting on Facebook about how McDonald's burgers are made or how they don't digest (?) well and can live in your stomach forever. Denial? Maybe, but I'm okay with that because we don't frequent McDonald's, except for sweet tea, and don't most Americans experience McDonald's every once in a while? Either way, the boys loved it and ate well.

Sawyer and "the look"

Naptime and football was next at the Hoff home. Two things that go so well with a Sunday afternoon. I would have stayed to enjoy them both had I not decided to go hit up a couple bargain stores. I saw an opportunity to get out of the house without kids, so I took it. I found some great deals and was able to get some Christmas shopping done. At Aldi I bought an 18 pound turkey and at the Meijer outlet store I and found all sorts of things. Next, I hit up the Dollar Tree for some ovulation and pregnancy tests. I got so excited that I only have to spend a dollar on each one, before I knew it I put way too many in my cart. Okay, so maybe I had 10 ovulation tests and 5 pregnancy tests. I personally didn't think that's extreme but when I got up to the register, with about 10 people behind me, the cashier smiles and says loudly "Is this some kind of joke or something?". At this moment I even think I am weird, but we ended up having a long conversation about how Wal-mart also has good deals on pregnancy tests and how my husband and I are going to be trying for our next one. Now everyone who was waiting in line also knows I will be having sex this month in order to "try" for our next baby. It was a little awkward and I was so glad to get out of there.

My next stop was to the Christian book store for a book I never ended up finding, but I did find some great Christmas CD's. While I was checking out I started looking through the different pictures of kids that are looking for sponsors through World Vision. Kyle and I had talked about sponsoring one before, but I hadn't felt peace about it before. Today I did. I asked her who I should pick and she handed me the picture of a little boy named "Danny" from Bolivia. He had just had a birthday and she really wanted him to have a special birthday present. I felt peace about sponsoring this little boy. I am excited to write him letters and for the boys too as well. He doesn't have any siblings. He's so cute I just want to squeeze his cheeks! We've already prayed for him a lot today. At Christmas time we get a catalog so that we can buy him some chickens or a goat for a present! I guess that is a big deal there! We're excited to bless him and pray for him, so I guess you could kind of say he's the newest member to our family. The cashier told me we were the first person to sponsor a child there in over 30 days!

 Once I got home, I started downloading and listening to my new Christmas music. I loved it! I get so excited for Christmas. I really don't know why. It is, by far, my favorite time of year. My mom made a lot of little traditions around Christmas so special. They weren't expensive traditions, just memories we'd make year after year. They are the most precious of all my childhood memories. Baking cookies, decorating, Christmas caroling (which I did hate sometimes), Favorite holiday movies, hot chocolate in the mornings before school...all small but wonderful! I try and hold off even listening to the music before November, but this week I just couldn't. My Pandora radio was on almost every day playing Christmas classics. At least I wasn't decorating....but then I just had this little urge to pull out a few things.

And then the urge got a little bigger, but not too big. Oh my husband is just wonderful! He understands and loves me and puts up with me, and sometimes I even think he likes it a little.



Our play room. The fish were there already.



Now I do know this is not normal, and this is the earliest I have ever decorated. I have a lot more decorating to do, but I will wait until November. I did all this while we watched the Vikings lose to the Packers. I don't know how the game ended because I was too stressed to watch. My husband wanted to tell me about it, but I just couldn't bring myself to hear about it. I really did have a wonderful day! Looking forward to this week. My numbers are back to 0 so we have the "OK" to start trying again for our next baby. We've been praying for God to prepare our hearts for what he has planned for us. Hoping that his plans for us will mean a baby sooner than later. I know whatever his plan is, it is perfect.



Random pic to make my blog less boring.



How I Met My Husband...

I was just thinking this morning how blessed I am to have Kyle in my life. He is so much more than I could have dreamed my husband would be. Sure, there are times when we have disagreements and lots of times where he does things I think are a little weird. My life is not perfect, by any means, but God has blessed me in so many ways by allowing Kyle to be my husband.

I was thinking about when we first met. We actually met because of myspace! My best friends here were his friends as well. Kyle lived in Minnesota so he was a couple states away but kept in touch with our friends enough for me to have noticed him. I didn’t think much about it, but I thought it was cool he was from Minnesota since I grew up there. Oh, and I thought he was cute too, but that is as far as I took it. I had decided I wasn’t going to date anymore until I was sure God was making it very clear that it was okay. Little did I know, Kyle was already pursuing me and was planning a trip to Michigan to meet me on my birthday, if God would allow it. And little did he know what he was getting into. J


Me and my bible study on my birthday the night I met Kyle. Only picture I have from that night :)

 So August 18, 2006 my bible study took me out to Logan’s for my birthday. I didn’t even know Kyle was already in town and was staying at Carol and Isaiah’s (our mutual myspace friends). I told Carol, during my birthday party, that I was going to sleep at her house, which I really liked to do as often as I could. They were my family here. Carol was like my sister and that meant I could just invite myself over for a sleepover. Carol’s response surprised me. She said she had to check with Isaiah first. I thought that was interesting, but Isaiah said yes and I didn’t even think about it again that night. We pulled into Carol’s driveway and there is where I met my future husband. I remember getting out of the car and meeting Kyle and then I said “Do you want to see my presents?” I now know that Kyle thought, at that moment, I was shorter than what he thought I would be and I talked more than he thought I wouldJ. It was one of the best birthdays I had so far. We played hide-and-go-seek in the dark. I remember hiding with Carol and laughing so hard I almost wet my pants. I remember having so much fun just being myself. I remember staying up late and comparing myspace pages with Kyle. We also talked about God and I remember Kyle telling me a story about Peter in the bible. That night I finally understood what Carol was telling me about me waiting for a Godly man. Not just a man that believed in God and went to church, but a man who had a real relationship with God. Kyle changed all my expectations that night for what I dreamed of for my future husband. Not once that night did I ever think it would be Kyle. That’s exactly how God wanted it to be!


Me and one of my best friends in the world, Carol- one of the reasons Kyle and I met!

I saw him one other time that weekend and when I was saying goodbye to Kyle, he handed me one of his band’s CDs (Cathode Rae). I listened to it right away and then thought maybe it would be cool if my future husband could sing and play guitar too J. Then I decided that didn’t have to be a priority but a nice bonus if God would bless me with that. I knew God had the perfect person for me, but at that moment my heart really longed to be God’s alone. I knew there would be a time where God would allow me to fall in love but I was going to be patient. 

This is how little the boys were when Kyle met them.



The next week I spoke with Carol and she mentioned that she thought Kyle was interested in me. I didn’t think so at all. What on earth would a guy with a good job, who was good looking, who loved God with all his heart and was in a band (smile) want a damaged girl who had a past, had kids and who was divorced. I knew God loved me just as I was and I wasn’t ashamed anymore of the person I was. I believed I was a new person because of God’s grace and forgiveness. I loved myself again but I told Carol I didn’t think she was right on this one.



Kyle and I on my trip to Minnesota.

Kyle and I emailed each other over the month. I had a wedding to go to in Minnesota in September, so we planned to hang out there a couple days. On September 7 we had our first date, although neither one of us would dare call it a date at the time. We spent the day in downtown Minneapolis and covered a lot of areas. We went to the Keys Café at the Foshay, walked around downtown, spent time talking at Lowry Park, visited the popular Cherry Spoon, and finished it off with a little bite to eat at Noodles and Company. I remember so much of that day. I felt so comfortable with Kyle and at peace. September 7 has come to be a very significant day for us. In 2009 we had our little Brody and this past year we learned of our miscarriage on this day.



Kyle continued to pursue me the rest of the year. He visited Michigan a couple times and spent time with Grant and Pierce. There was one period where we didn’t talk for three weeks! During that time God worked in both of us to prepare us for each other. He prepared Kyle’s heart to be a husband and a father and he prepared my heart to be a wife. Kyle came to Michigan to bring in the New Year and take me to our church “prom”. That weekend we started dating but no kissing until later. We knew we were going to get married and Kyle knew when, but he didn’t tell me.

The Prom



Kyle spending time with G&P before he had to fly back to Minnesota.





Kyle with the boys on our visit.

In February, I took Grant and Pierce on a road trip to Minnesota to meet Kyle’s family. We had no idea we would be welcomed and loved the way we were. Grant and Pierce fell in love with Kyle’s family and his family’s two dogs. That same week, February 9, Kyle kissed me for the first time. No making out until the engagementJ. I didn’t have to wait too much longer because on a trip to visit my mom and her family, April 9, Kyle proposed to me. It was perfect…rose petals and candles everywhere. I was so surprised too!



Some of Kyle's wonderful family!



Kyle with the boys- the first week they met Fridley.



The proposal

The next four months were a whirlwind, but they were wonderful! I had my dream wedding and married my dream man on August 11! Of course I left out so many details throughout this story. There were a lot of little miracles that happened along the way. I have saved all the myspace emails and reread them often. Now that I know Kyle I can see little things in those early emails that let me know he liked me a lotJ. God’s timing is perfect. His grace is amazing! I didn’t deserve any of what God gave me, but he gave me more than I could have dreamed. I love my hot husband! Thanks God!!

Me and Kyle being me and Kyle.