Jessica Kelso

The other day I was having a conversation with Kevin about the jobs that I would love to have. I started talking about how I would love to one day open a pregnancy resource center that was free to all who needed it. Just a couple weeks previous he had told me about a program we have here in Lakeland that does the same thing and it really got me thinking. A lady from the office attends his Rotary meetings and he has spoken with her a few times before. So after going on and on about my dream center, he said I should call and see if they are hiring or needing volunteers. How come I hadn’t thought of that? Ever since I was laid off in December I’ve wanted to volunteer, but have kept putting it off thinking I should be getting a job any day now! Six months later, still no job so I figure it’s time. And with Aidan starting school full-time next week, I will no longer have any commitments during the week. (Which is just scary!) So I called and they said they were definitely needing client advocate volunteers. So I started training last night, and I go again tonight and most of the day tomorrow. I’m in a complete awe of the things God is doing in my life right now. It’s absolutely amazing and I am so excited. With the abortion rate as high as it is, the fact that we have a place like this to help empower women by giving them ALL the information and letting them make an informed decision is just so great and I have to be a part of it. Last night I had to miss our Thursday night small group in order to attend the training, but I stopped by after wards. I was in the kitchen getting a drink when I saw the verse Exodus 4:10 written out, “Moses said to the Lord, “O Lord, I have never been eloquent neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.” The Lord said to him, “Who gave man his mouth? Is it not I the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say”. Here I was wondering how in the world God was going to use me at this pregnancy center. I don’t know how to share God’s story, I can hardly even remember bible verses. I have a terrible memory and have never felt to be very good at speaking. What in the world did I sign myself up for? Why did I think this was a good idea? And here it was written out for me. It’s not my words I need to find, it’s His. So tonight I will see and hear things in the training in a new light and I am so happy about that!

Yesterday I turned 24. So far so good. I woke up to find blueberry pancakes, a princess balloon, and a couple of awesome presents from my husband waiting on me. We had plans to go to Islands of Adventure for the day, but the rain seemed to have other plans for us. We were slightly at a loss as to what that was. . . so we ended up going to lunch, getting some new plants for the yard, and then I was actually able to drag Kevin along to go shopping with me. My birthday is pretty much the only day of the year he will step foot in a clothing store without complaining! Which I’m more than okay with. Afterwards, we went to Tampa with friends to eat at my favorite Thai restaurant. It was delicious as usual. Our little nephew Owen even called to wish me a happy birthday which was the cutest thing ever!

Every year on my birthday my mom seems to talk about what a miracle baby I was and the story of my birth. I’ve heard it quite a few times by now. How badly she wanted a girl, but had convinced herself it was going to be another boy (I have two older brothers). How the doctor wasn’t quite ready and told her not to push, but I wasn’t very patient (hmmm, so that’s where it started?) and came out like a football and the doctor had to catch me. I always like hearing the story especially since I’ve never seen pictures. My parents weren’t the best at taking pictures when we were little, especially when we were born. I’ve always missed being able to see that time. But there was something about the story this year that really made me realize the extent of how truly special I was to my mom. Now having gone through the roller coaster of emotions in trying to have a baby, it all kind of overwhelmed me and made me sad to think of the times I was mean to my mom and gave her a hard time. She wanted me so bad. I mean, I’m sure if she had her choice she would minus out the tattoo’s and a couple of the different stages I went through, but she wanted me and has completely accepted who I am today. It only took me 24 years to figure that out. Thinking of that also reminded me of the love God has for me, and how it’s 1000 times more than my mom’s and that just absolutely blows my mind. It’s amazing. And realizing all that made for a great 24th birthday.

For the past couple of days we have had nothing but dark and dreary skies with lots of rain which has made it almost impossible for me to get motivated. Yesterday while shopping outdoors and getting drizzled on for a couple of hours was enough for me. Enough frizzy wavy hair. And enough trying to hop over water puddles but just slightly missing. So today I need to go grocery shopping before I get my nephew from school, but right now I don’t really see that happening. And going grocery shopping with him is a task I stay far away from. I’ve learned for me to have a successful grocery shopping trip, I need to be alone. I like to read labels and concentrate on what it is I’m buying so I don’t just grab things in the cart and go. When Aidan is with me I somehow end up with cookies and scooby doo yogurt and pop tarts. He’s sneaky, that little one. So for now I think I’ll sit right here on this couch and take advantage of the fact that Kevin has lunch plans today and won’t be needing a delicious home made lunch (ham&cheese anyone?). Maybe I’ll go tomorrow since the rain has ruined our outdoor plans. What’s better than going grocery shopping on your birthday?

Wow.

That’s all I can really say. This weekend was a-ma-zing! Friday night Kevin went to see Star Trek in IMAX with some friends while I went out with some of my girlfriends for my birthday and our friend Beth’s “last night out” before her baby is due on the 30th. We went to Outback for dinner and topped the evening off with some uno and great conversation at Starbucks. Saturday we slept in, woke up and made a pancake breakfast, then just laid around and caught up on some season finales we had on DVR from the previous week. I was also able to get in a run and lay out and go swimming with a friend which was nice.

This morning we had a nice church service followed by a housewarming party for our friends David and Kallie. Burgers were grilled and then of course the rain came. It didn’t last long and all the guys headed to the park a couple blocks over to play Wiffle ball while some of the girls watched and took pictures. They ended up switching to kickball and I even played for a little bit which was a lot of fun! I love kickball, and I think we should seriously get a team going. The rain headed our way again and we all had to hightail it to a covered area where we hung out until it was okay to walk back. Overall, a great day and now we’re tired and looking forward to an evening on the couch while watching the rain fall. It’s weekends like this that make my heart so full. I couldn’t be any more thankful for the amazing friends we’ve had the opportunity to make. I’m sure I say that a lot, but they are all such a God send.

Tomorrow my mom is picking me up and we are doing some birthday shopping before I pick up my nephew from school. Although I’m only turning 24 and have nothing too exciting planned, I love birthdays. Not only do you get special attention ON your birthday, it seems like you get it all week! We haven’t even really decided what to do on my birthday besides going to my favorite Thai restaurant in Tampa, but I’m sure whatever it is will be just fine.

I did it!!! I am soooooo proud of myself. . . and you won’t normally hear me say anything like that! I ran the Mayfaire 5K last night in 35 minutes, a lot of it was up hill, and I didn’t stop to walk AT ALL. Not once! That was my goal when planning to do it but I hadn’t actually gotten to that point while training so I was feeling very unsure of myself. The last stretch of the run was up hill and I thought I’d have to stop for a minute, but Anna said to just push through it and I did. The last minute I pushed it with everything in me and ran it out. It was amazing! It might not seem like a big deal (especially to the ones who finished in 15 minutes!) to a lot of people, but for me it’s huge. I rarely ever finish anything I set out to do. I’ve been that way since I was little. It was the best feeling to reach the finish line and finally feel like I had accomplished something good for myself. I’m glad I had Anna to run it with, because I probably couldn’t have done it alone. She is what I would call a “professional runner”, having run the Chicago marathon (26 miles!). I can only imagine. I’m so excited to know I can do this and push myself even harder to do another 5K in a month or two. Maybe I’ll set a new goal for myself to do it in 30 minutes or less!

Happy Mother’s Day to all my beautiful mommy friends out there! You are amazing and should be appreciated more for everything you do. We were able to spend the day with both of our moms and my grandma in Tampa who I rarely get to see. She is not doing so good, but still beautiful as ever. I miss her. Hope everyone had a very special day!

We’re not quite sure how he got it, all we know is my poor hubby got the sickness. (Just a bad cold and cough, calm down). It’s hard seeing him sick because he is almost always the happy one with little to complain about but the past few days has just knocked him off his feet. He missed two full days of work and a couple of hours yesterday morning. We had tickets to go see Cirque Du Soleil on Friday but our friends, Matthew and Meghan won 4 tickets for the show on Wednesday night. So I sold our tickets on Craigslist and dragged the sick guy out for the night. It was a lot of fun. I couldn’t believe some of the stuff they can do. I mean, I just didn’t know our bodies could bend that way. Makes me feel like a baby for ever complaining during kickboxing class. I think he picked it up from me, but he seems to think it was probably from someone he came in contact with in the two days of Joel’s funeral. . . either way, I’m thinking about joining in with this swine-flu-frenzy, mask-wearing-craziness, because I really don’t want to get sick again. I can now say I’ve had my share of it this year.

Today I’ve been making that delicious Amish friendship bread. Mmmmm! I can smell it now. It’s just almost TOO good. I’m making two loaves and then I’ll probably make 2 more in 10 days and that’s just completely too much goodness consumed in that short of time. Ahhh! Today also marks the 9th month of this crazy baby-making journey we’ve been on. I’ve been thinking today how I could of had a baby by now if I had gotten pregnant that first month. Crazy! God seems to have different plans for us though, so I’m just listening. And waiting. Lots and lots of praying, too. I’ve been through 3 bottles of prenatal vitamins, quite a few pregnancy tests, ovulation sticks, and numerous tear-filled nights. I’m writing a different post about all of that so maybe one day I’ll feel confident enough to share it with everyone.