Guest Post Today!!!

Today we have a guest post by Nathan

He has a very exciting announcement that he wanted to share with the world!!

When Ashley posted her request for guest posts I had to think a little. I thought could I do this? Do people that I don’t even know or have never even read my blog want to hear what I have to say? I have so much to say! I can do this! Like many of us, once I hit that ‘I can do this’ moment I may have let those thoughts go for a while, shrugged it off, and decided against it because I’ve never done a guest post and didn’t want to make a fool out of myself. However, I’ve had a certain something on my mind for a while that I haven’t been quite able to let out. Not really a secret, but a major announcement.

I’m not quite ready to post this particular announcement on my blog for reasons you’ll soon find out. I’ve been extremely excited and anxious to tell people about this major development in my life and when I saw Ashley’s call for guest posts I thought, wow, what better way to express how I feel than make this announcement a guest post on Ashley’s blog so that all of you can join in my excitement!

Before I go any further into detail, let me tell you a little about myself. I’m a twenty-five year old happily married young man who lives in the mountains of Northern Vermont. I’m originally from the coast of Maine (culture shock) and I love the water. My favorite time of year is summer and my favorite saying is that Life is Good isn’t just a trademark, it’s a fact! I have a yellow lab named Chloe and I consider her my best friend. I started blogging many years ago when I met a kid at camp who told me about how when he was angry he wrote. I decided I was going to write! The only twist was that I was going to write about Life and everything else in between! I’ve had many different blogs on the web up until last April/May when I was looking at an old high school friend’s facebook page and noticed that she blogged using blogger. I checked out her blog and was fascinated. I was intrigued by her posts and inspired. Inspired so much that I wanted to use blogger and well, here I am! I don’t have a lot of followers yet, I’m still relatively new, I get ragged on by facebook friends who read my blog for the fact that I even have a blog. Apparently blogging is not a 'guy thing'. Doesn’t bother me a bit though, blogging is my escape! I love it even if there’s not always a method to my madness! Ashley was actually one of the first people to follow my blog and that’s how I started following her. So, that being said, let me get back to Life as I know it!

My wife and I have been happily married for three going on four years now. Three years ago when we moved into our current apartment we got a beautiful yellow lab. Chloe is our world and we love her to death. We don’t treat her like a pet; we treat her like a member of the family, as if she were a kid, that’s what we consider her. I have a passion for animals and I would own many if time allowed it. As much as I love animals, I love family just as much. For a few years now, Erin and I have been discussing family. We’ve discussed our future, how many kids we want, how we want them to grow up, etc.

In the process of talking about kids we’ve taken the time to learn about the value of having kids and the value of life. Last year, Erin traveled to Guatemala to help family’s build homes and have a place to live. I’ve had the privilege of working with children teaching theatre and being a big brother to them. In my current jobs I see people, both good and bad, and watch the way they treat their kids and other members of their family. Through these observations and learning experiences I came to the conclusion that I wanted my own kid and I want to give them everything I can and do everything I can to watch them grow up and be successful.

This year Erin and I made a few choices. One of those choices was that we were going to try to have a baby! The other was that if we weren’t successful Erin was going to plan to go to Guatemala again in February. Well, I’m happy to report (for good reason) that Erin will not be going to Guatemala again this year! My major announcement is that Erin and I are expecting! I’ve known for about a month now but haven’t said anything because we want to wait until Erin’s second doctor’s appointment on October 25th to make the official announcement to co-workers, friends, etc. Our families already know and couldn’t be more excited for us! Heck, I’m excited for us!

I’ve always considered myself a down to earth, genuine, organized, and responsible person. Adding a new member to our family will require all of those traits to be upped a notch. I feel that a gift is being given to us and with a great gift comes great responsibility. I see so many people who don’t treat their kid’s right and it tears me up. I watched one woman two weeks ago come into our store with three kids and she literally had them tied to her. Those kids were out of control! They touched everything, they licked everything, and it was nasty! Another customer said awful cruel things to their kids when they picked up something in the store. As a father, I would never treat my kids that way. I will do the best job that I possibly can with my kid and I would never treat them like either of those parents. I will teach them right from wrong and I will not abuse them, verbally or physically! I know it’s not easy, nothing ever is, but I made a commitment to myself and my family when I decided to try for this baby and that was that I’m going to put my heart and soul into this. The baby deserves every bit of love I can give!

Now, it’s time to be the man of the house. As you can see from the photo above I have some work to do! Yes, this is the baby’s room. Right now, it’s more the office, museum, and craft center. Soon, that will all change! The photos will come down, the walls will be stripped, painted, furniture will be moved and that photo will look much different come early June when the baby arrives. We've already decided on names for either a girl or boy and we do plan to find out. Erin and I have decided to keep the names on the DL for now but I think they're good and I'm very happy with them!

So, that is my major announcement! I feel a bit relieved to have told all of you and I can’t wait to tell all of my co-workers and friends! I want to thank Ashley for allowing me to post a guest blog to make my announcement. I read Ashley’s blog regularly and I’m very encouraged by what she has to say. Her love for her dogs is definitely something I can relate too! I must admit that I was quite nervous to write my first guest blog and not because of the topic but because of the fact that I don’t know any of her followers. I’m sure you’re all great though and I’m sure you all have great blogs as well. Feel free to stop by my blog sometime and check it out! http://spreenmvp.blogspot.com/

Have a good day everybody!

Isn't that an exciting guest post? Congrats Nathan and Erin!! I wish you all the best with the remainder of the pregnancy, as well as getting ready for the baby!