We're having a baby!

This is not a drill.

I know you've been "burned" by me before with sharing pretend big news, but this time, I'm not pulling on your leg.  (I promised I wouldn't do it again after that one post...)

We're actually having a baby!

Here are some common questions we've received upon sharing this news with people in person, along with our answers:

When are you due?
mid-July

Will you find out the gender?
Yes.

How have you been feeling?  
Eh.  Ok...haha.  I keep telling people I definitely know there's something different going on, because I haven't wanted to eat anything, really, for the past month+.  Who am I?!?!  I'll leave it at that, for now; more details upon request.

Are you excited?  
Duh!  haha - jk.  Yes, we're so excited!

Have you started prepping the nursery?  
Kind-of.  We (and by "we," I mean my amazingly-handy husband) are in the middle of finishing up several house projects.  Once they're done, we'll be able to (finally!!!!!) move things downstairs, including the guest room.  Then, and once we find out the gender, we'll be able to focus more on the nursery.

What have you been craving?
This is what I always like to ask expectant mothers - I think it's so interesting!  Come to find out, though, my experience with "cravings," so far, has not been so much what sounds good on top of my normal diet, but rather, it's been the only things that sound good, period.  And they change daily.  (Bless my sweet husband.)  Some "regulars" have been cereal, fruit juice popsicles, grilled cheese/fried egg sandwiches, and banana/PB/marshmallow cream roll-ups (these were already a thing for us - not a crazy pregnancy creation).  But really - these are just a few of the "Yeah, I think that sounds good..." items.  More extensive list upon request.

Any questions we forgot to include?  Ask away!

In case you missed it, this was our official announcement for the world of social media:

I thought I'd treat you, dear readers, to some behind-the-scenes shots of this gem.  ☺

Sometimes, neither of them looked.

Sometimes, Charlie looked.

Sometimes, Pepper looked.

(kinda)

And sometimes, she stuck out her tongue.

Sometimes, they got tired of waiting for treats...

Sorry to not have video documentation of this ordeal...I'm sure it would've provided even more entertainment.

Anyway, that's our news!  Thanks to those of you who have shared in our excitement!

More later...

Pregnantly,
Kensy

Favorites of the day:

pineapple juice/ginger ale/orange sherbet/vanila ice cream NYE punch!

Christmas pictures/letters/correspondence (we didn't send one out this year, for the record)

my hard-working husband ♥

A NEW coop!

You guys.

I've been so, so, so excited to share this with you!

As many of you know, we put our house on the market about a month and a half ago.  We loved our home (which was Bryant's bachelor pad for a couple years before we met) - it's so cozy and cute and a perfect starter home.  That said, though, we've always known we'd need more space if we were ever to expand our family, so decided to start looking for that "space."  (I know some of you are reading into that...this is not a pregnancy announcement.  Don't worry - it will be very clear if/when that announcement comes!)

Since about a month before we listed our home, we'd been working with an agent to find a new home, looking both online and in person.  We found a couple that were "maybe's," but we predominately saw ones that weren't an option for us, for one reason or another.  Any that we liked enough to consider putting an offer on were under contract before we had a chance to do so.  It was getting discouraging - we thought we wouldn't be able to find something by the time our house sold.

We had showings for our "exit" home almost every day for a couple weeks starting the day it went on the market.  There were multiple second showings and one "almost" offer, and then, an offer came through!  Wohoo!

The SAME day we got the offer on our house, we saw THE house for the first time.   (By "THE," I mean THE one we decided to put an offer on...THE one God was saving just for us...THE one we loved the most...THE one that had nearly everything we were looking for, and more!)

We stood in awe of God's timing that evening we saw the house for the first time.  It had been on the market for over a week with no activity, which was seemingly unheard of during the time (and in the area) we were looking.  We continued to be in awe as all the pieces with the sale of our "exit" home and the purchase of our "target" home fell into place.  He knew it all before we did, and we didn't need to worry about a thing.

And now, it's official!  We've got the keys, started on some improvements (hooray for home ownership...of any home...in any condition - there's always something to work on), started moving our things in, and can't wait to continue on our marriage journey in our new-to-us home.

I won't bore you with all the specs here, but we might do so in person if/when you get to come see it!  ☺

Old home...

...new home!

God is GOOD!

Home ownerly,
Kensy

P.S. I've been refraining from posting these pet packing pictures till now.  Please enjoy.  ☺

It's exhausting...

Favorites of the day:

Habitat for Humanity ReStores!!!
(This one is a favorite for the month, really - we've been back sooo many times after discovering one of several in the area.  The best place for DIY-ers, for sure.)
all of our helpers - past, present, and future - We seriously couldn't have done this without you all!  From helping find properties, to gathering boxes, to heavy lifting and cleaning...and all the projects to come - we are so thankful for you giving of your time and talents!
being done packing (PTL!)

Life is grand!

Hi.  ☺

We're going to skip the small talk today, if you don't mind.

Based on this post's title, any guesses about what the news I'm soooo excited to share with you might be?

The short story:

WE GOT A GRAND PIANO!!!

The long(er) story, which happened in about 3 days' time:

My sweet husband had been wanting to get a piano for our home since I moved in.  We had the keyboard I'd had growing up, but I hadn't had regular access to a real piano (the one I teach on at the community center is electric) for quite some time.  So, he'd been looking for one on Craigslist for months.  We'd been to look at quite a few in person, but they were mostly duds or over-priced.  We originally planned to find a cheap, smaller "starter" piano for the sake of our budget and our little starter home.   Buuut, then he found one that we both felt really good about - an antique walnut 6-1/2' grand that had recently been re-keyed...and they were only asking $500 for it.  I was trying not to get my hopes up about it, but we both felt better about it than any of the previous "potentials."  

Ultimately, we went to look at it, it was in really great shape, and we said, "Yes!"  AND, after sharing our story and asking what their lowest price might be, we got a hefty "newlywed/piano player & teacher" discount!  They were very nice people.  The piano was a family heirloom, but no one had room for it, anymore.   I think they were just glad to see it going to a good home and to know that it will be played often and loved lots!

Bryant and a coworker did a ton of research about how to go about moving a grand piano, and in an evening's time, we were able to gather the necessary materials to prepare for the process.  I have such an intelligent, handy, helpful husband!  (It's worth mentioning that among all this piano hoopla, he also spent hours and hours working on his car, yet maintained his excitement about our piano!)

Come moving day, we rented a U-Haul, and my awesome husband and ever-helpful dad made the trip to pick up our grand piano!  I stayed back to make final preparations (and keep my slight anxiety about the whole process at home...haha).  We called up some great friends who provided much-needed muscles and help with the truck-to-home transition.

It all went so well - we managed to catch the window between afternoon rain showers, nothing got dropped, everything fit, and it just went so smoothly!  I attribute that to my thoughtful husband's preparedness, my dad's advice and prior experience, and our amazing helpers!

Here are a few moments from the day:

And they're off!
(Unfortunately, we didn't miss the rain in the morning, so we were all soaked after picking up and loading stuff into the truck!)

They gave us a bigger truck than we paid for, so there was plenty of room!

A perfect fit!

I had the privilege of unloading the first piece!
(Just to be clear, it's the lid prop, not a gun!  haha)

Yes, I was the photographer.  The muscly men did a great job!

Debut performance!

So, just to give you a couple before/after glimpses:

Isn't it so beautiful?!?!?!

It's really in amazing shape for being almost 80 years old.  As far as we know, it just needs a good tuning.  Of course, there are probably lots of other things we could do to restore it to it's 1936 glory, but for now, we're going to love it just as it is!

I can't begin to express how thankful I am about this.  I'd say it's a dream come true, but I never dared to dream I'd have my very own grand piano to play whenever I want to - especially at this time in our life!  A huge thank you to my husband for making it happen!

Wanna know the kicker?  I've always loved playing pieces by Jim Brickman (a famous piano composer/performer).  The first piano piece I played for Bryant was "Rocket to the Moon" by Jim Brickman - a piece I've had memorized since the 5th grade.  (This was the piece I played for our piano's debut performance, too - even though it was terribly out-of-tune.)  Anyway, the family we bought the piano from left a couple books in the bench for us.  One was a really interesting Japanese (or perhaps Chinese) version of a beginning John Thompson book they'd gotten for a foreign exchange student once-upon-a-time.  The other?  A Jim Brickman book...that has "Rocket to the Moon" in it.  Just further confirmation that it was meant to be.  ☺

Thanks for reading and for sharing our excitement!  You're welcome to come over to play and/or hear it anytime (after we get it tuned...unless you just can't wait, like us!).  ☺

Grand Piano-ownerly,

Kensy

Favorites of the day:

my sweet, loving, hard-working husband

our new piano...of course

garden-fresh pesto

I flew the coop!

Hello, hello, hello, dear friends and readers!

Welcome to the freshly updated "Scoop from the Coop!"

As many of you know, my life underwent a few not-so-minor changes in the recent past, so I thought this blog should reflect accordingly...on a more minor level, perhaps.

Though I'm no longer living at the coop, I'd like to retain the blog title, because...well, I don't think that really requires explanation.  ☺

So, take a deep breath with me, and get excited for more new things to come!

Subjects of upcoming posts to look forward to:
Wedding
Honeymoon
Unpacking/settling in
Charlie & Pepper
Music/Kiddos/Jobs

In the meantime, I really just wanted to drop you all a line and thank you for your patience as I've begun to settle into married life.  Many of you have asked about my blog, new life, and generally how things are going.  I so appreciate your interest, concern, and generosity, and will do my best to keep you posted on the happenings, big and small, in OUR life.

Also, I wanted to share this:
Since fall was so busy with wedding/moving/work/etc., I kind-of missed the all-thing-pumpkin boat.  Terribly sad news, right?  Fear not, though!  Thanks to a recent trip to Oklahoma and my mother-in-law's genius (and our kitchen being unpacked, organized, and in working order (which no small feat)), I have pumpkin aplenty and am making up for lost time this week.  I'm (finally) trying recipes I pinned on Pinterest boards long ago, and have made the following this week:
Whipped Cinnamon Pumpkin Honey Butter
Pumpkin Poppers
Overnight Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls (These are in the fridge getting ready to be baked tomorrow!)

This one's on deck:
Pumpkin Bread with Salted Caramel Drizzled Pumpkin Buttercream

Yum.

That's all, for now.  As usual, thanks for reading, and I'll look forward to filling you in more soon!

Happy holidays, Merry Christmas, and warm wishes to you and yours!

Wife-ly,
Kensy

Favorites of the day:

my HUSBAND!!!

having a well-stocked kitchen

this gal and guy:

BIG news!!

Hey there!

I've been working on checking things off my long-term to-do list in the past week, or so, before summer wraps up.  This has included working on/completing various tasks at Arts Inc., finding my own health insurance plan, and...buying a NEW CAR!!!!

No, I hadn't been looking for long.  Yes, I'd been thinking about it for a while.

As much as I love, love, love Paulette the Prelude, I knew I didn't want to go through another winter wondering whether or not I'd be able to get out of the driveway, to/from work, etc. in the snow.  Also, more space would be ideal when helping friends move, carpooling to various events, and hauling trumpets/groceries/music boxes/kiddos with car seats.

Paulette will be going back to her home in Topeka...and will surely be missed in Lincoln.

So, I decided that if I'm going to go bigger, I'm going to go big...SUV-big.  My parents had also been looking to upgrade and had done some worth-while research that was very valuable to me once I decided to start car-shopping.  I did a little looking and researching on my own and found this:

2013 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport (Turbo)

It was everything I didn't completely know I was looking for, and was a really sweet deal - a used car, but a 2013 model!  I decided to test drive a couple other makes/models of similarly-sized vehicles before seeing the Santa Fe in person.  I wasn't super impressed with them, and all the Santa Fe's great attributes I'd seen on paper more than confirmed when I saw and drove it for the first time.  It was meant to be.  ☺

The guys at the dealership (Sid Dillon of Lincoln) were not pushy, but instead, were very helpful and so accommodating through my entire first car-buying-experience.

Because they needed to detail the car and I needed to finalize my auto insurance, I didn't drive it off the lot the day I bought it.  So, it didn't really feel real for awhile...even after signing 74,152 forms and writing the largest check I've written to date.

Buuut...when I got to drive it home (to work) the next day (today), I realized, "OH MY GOSH!!!  I JUST BOUGHT A NEW CAR!!!!  AHHHH!!!!!!"

It doesn't hurt that a friend works in the detail shop at the dealership and put some extra hours and elbow grease into making it extra beautiful.  LOVE it!!!

I haven't decided on a name, yet, but I'm pretty sure it's a "he."  Bring on the suggestions!  ☺

Ecstatically,

Kensy

Favorites of the day:

wedding-induced reunions

prayerfully-supported life decisions

garden-fresh cherry tomatoes

good grammar

Meanwhile, at the coop...