It's REALLY happening!

Good morning, friends! I can hardly believe it myself, but I am actually writing my first blog post. This has been in the making for many many months. Not that I have actually been writing this post for many months, but the thought of writing it has been there for quite some time. I first thought of writing a blog in the summer of 2009, just after I had moved into my new home in Atlanta and was obviously entering a new phase in life involving being a homemaker, being an Atlantan, being a dog owner, being the wife of a (very handsome and ambitious) veterinarian, and being pregnant. This, for sure, has been a blessed time in my life! While I greatly appreciate, miss, and value my time in Knoxville as a hospice Volunteer Coordinator and wife of a vet. student, I was ready for some new adventures and the Lord has surely provided them! This morning I can hardly contain the excitement I feel about what is to come and the gratitude I feel toward what the Lord has brought me through. Praise His Name!

I clearly put the blog-writing idea on the backburner for a while, until just before Christmas a friend suggested I write a blog so that friends could better follow the progression of my pregnancy. This confirmed to me that writing a blog might actually be a good use of my time and that people are genuinely interested in my life. The fact that people might want to read about me was actually quite a surprise to me! My hope, though, is that this blog will be full of praises to the Lord and that somehow the experiences about which I write can be helpful to others. This blog will by no means be strictly about pregnancy, especially since there is just about one month until the big day! I think I will just write about whatever the Holy Spirit puts on my heart and mind, and trust in God to make my words useful!

I think that I will keep today's post short and sweet, but will end with a big finale. First, thank you very much to those who encouraged me to get my blog started and a very big thank you to Anna Cleland, my sister-in-law, who made my blog look pretty in an effort to get me posting sooner (: I really was quite hesitant to start my blog because it just did not look as pretty as I wanted, until of course Anna got ahold of it and made it look post-worthy. She seems to be a natural at such things. Also, thank you to God, for blessing me in this time of life, for allowing me time to write this blog and do so many wonderful things I enjoy: keep up with the home for Daniel (this is so much more enjoyable than I ever thought it would be!), prepare for our baby girl, reconnect with old friends, spend time getting to better know Him, better learn to cook and bake, exercise, make new friends, and so much more. The list goes on and on!

And, finally, the moment which you've all been waiting for....unless of course you were one of the handful of people who already knows our daughter's name......her name is......

Felicity Mae Cleland

Felicity meaning "happy, bringer of happiness, or joy" and Mae being my paternal grandmother's name. That's our little girl, expected to arrive in about a month (: More about her in the future I'm sure. I hope that somehow this blog blesses you and please be sure to let me know what you want for me to write about. Take care, my friends!