When does life begin?

One of my good friends just had an abortion. Well, we aren't really close, actually, we just know each other through friends. She is only a couple of years younger than me, so it's really easy to relate to her. Anyways, I didn't know she was pregnant until recently, and because of the way I found out I wasn't allowed to say anything. So I did a lot of praying, and I offered to get some pamphlets for her about abortion and that sort of thing. Despite the efforts made by me and some of my other friends, she decided to go through with it yesterday.
For those of you who don't know, I worked at a Crisis Pregnancy Center, which was a pro life agency. I firmly believe in Pro -Life, that life begins at conception, that the baby inside a woman is a life, has a heartbeat after 18 days, can feel pain. I respect that women who even are considering abortion are under a great deal of stress and anxiety that can't be measured. However, when it comes down to it, I don't think that can be compared to the life that is inside of you. That baby has a choice to, and ultimately, the man and the woman are the one who chose to give it life. I know this subject is controversial, but I don't think we talk enough about it. This remarkable photograph to the left is of a tiny fetus in it's unruptured amniotic sac taken after surgery for an ectopic pregnancy in 1972. This picture demonstrates the development of a baby at only six weeks after conception.


This is at 13 weeks and The brain is fully developed and the fetus can suck, swallow, and make irregular breathing sounds. Fetus can feel pain (New England Journal of Medicine). Fetal skin is almost transparent. Muscles tissue is lengthening and bones are becoming harder. Liver and organs produce appropriate fluids. Eyebrows and eyelashes appear and the fetus makes active movements including kicks and even somersaults...if this isn't life, I don't know what is. I truly learned where my heart lies today, a hard way to learn that, I would give up this sadness of a loss of life to see that baby someday, but for now I will try to follow the leading of the Lord as to where to go with this.

The honeymoon!

That's us snorkeling!! Our honeymoon was the most amazing week of our lives! We went to Puerto Vallarta Mexico. We stayed at an all inclusive resort on the ocean. When we got there, we told them it was our honeymoon and they bumped us up to an oceanview suite. Free!! We went snorkeling, on a boating cruise called Rythms of the Night. They take you away to a secluded island and do an Aztec wedding ceremony how it would have been performed ages ago. We did Kayaking, Ziplining (pic below) and became beach bums for a whole week! We came back really tan, well Dave came back almost black, and I came back tan. It's not fair! He has naturally tan skin, so he gets real dark. I am whiter than white, so I barely get a tan. Sigh.... :)

If anybody doesn't know what ziplining is, I guess I'll explain it. It's when you get attached to a metal rod that is strung from one mountain to the other. You hang on with your hands and glide down it. You go super fast and scream at the top of your lungs because you look down and the ground is so far below.

A week was definately the perfect amount of time to go. The first two days we rested and went walking around the city, just having fun. The next four days were jam packed with activities and fun. The next two days, we layed around at the pool and watched the world cup. It's funny cause four years ago when the last world cup was playing I was in Africa! Now I'm married and in Mexico!

Our Wedding Day!

The wedding went off without a hitch! Sure there were a few minor things, like forgetting my veil (which my uncle and aunt rushed off to get) And I forgot to eat lunch (which another one of my uncles rushed off to get). No fainting on the day of the wedding! And I broke a nail as soon as I woke up that morning. I was, for the most part, pretty calm about everything. Here I am about to marry the most amazing man in the whole world, so why cry or be anxious. I don't think I ever did anything easier in my whole life.
David looked amazing when I was walking down the aisle. He was so cute! He took out a little hanky and was dabbing his eyes with it. I don't think I cried at all until we did the unity candle and David started praying. It really got me!
It was so great to have our family there with us for the big day. Six out of 10 of the families on my side showed up, and David had a good showing to. His Dad officiated the ceremony. My uncle played the piano in our ceremony, and we tried to involve as much family as possible. He had met a lot of my family during a trip to Wisconsin, but I had never met anybody in his family besides his immediate family. It was fun to see his cousins and everybody interacting, they reminded me a lot of my family. Kudos to my mom and Dad! They did an amazing job on the whole wedding and the reception as well. It looked amazing! Dave and I could have never imagined it would have been this beautiful! Thank you!!