Just to say something

It's been over a week since I blogged asking y'all to pray for me about a job situation. For the reasons surrounding that post and otherwise, much of last week wasn't great. I thought about blogging a couple times, but I had no idea what to write about, so I didn't. I'm not sure I have much to write about today, but sometimes you just need to say something, you know?

I would still covet your prayers over my job stuff. With Drew's encouragement, I did give notice to my boss, saying that I would not work past Christmas. It was hard, and I'm still nervous about finding something else, but I know it is what's best for my health and sanity, and I'm grateful that Drew helped me feel ok about that. We've been really blessed to find out that we'll be receiving some financial support from one of our churches in the near future, so I'm thankful that God is providing in that way as I continue to search for a way to make some more money for us.

Despite the less than stellar week, the weekend was fun because our [newly engaged] friends from Ashland, Cameron and Sara, came for a visit! The timing could not have been better as Durham graced us with a beautiful 70 degree weekend. It was so nice to catch up and visit with them, especially at such an exciting time in their lives!

Monday I worked both jobs and got home just in time to see Drew off to a dinner meeting. Rather than mope around by myself, I corralled my little bro and talked my parents through getting google plus so that we could all do a google hangout. Best. Idea. Ever.

Dad, Mom, and [really old] Chip the Dog

Tom discovered the Effects App

 

 

 Arrrrr!

Tom has a cake, and I have a party hat.

It was pretty great. Since Drew and I are heading to Colorado for Thanksgiving, I won't get to see my family again until New Years', so I'm very grateful to Google for developing such cool software, even if we are letting them take over the world.

So, while I'm still stressed and unsure about the job situation, it's good to remember that I'm blessed with wonderful friends and family.

That's something worth saying.

And suddenly... bagpipes!

Weekends are too short.
Especially weekends with family.

In case you missed my super excited post about home a couple weeks ago, this past weekend Drew, Stanley and I made the [10-hour] trek up to western NY for my cousin's wedding. This officially ended Wedding Season 2012 for us. Between May and October we were invited to 7 weddings in 4 different states. Drew made it to four, I made it to five. It was crazy busy, but I loved it. It's so wonderful to be able to celebrate with people we love.

Thursday after work, we packed up our car and drove North. We got in after midnight, but Dad waited up for us, so we chatted with him for awhile. We finally crawled into bed around 2 a.m., but sleep was short lived, as both my body and Stanley woke up about 7:30 a.m. when we normally do, ready for the day. It was ok, though, because I wanted to soak up every minute I had. The trees had just started to turn, the grapes were ripe on the vine, it was sweatpants weather... pretty much perfection.

Later we walked down the farm and visited with Nana & Nano, took my dad out to lunch for his birthday, and took a 4-wheleer ride through some of the back property that Drew hadn't seen before. It was cool to have Dad play the tour-guide and tell us more about the family land.

Then it was spaghetti time! Weekly spaghetti with the family is one of the things I miss most about my childhood, so it's something I try to arrange every time we make it home. Friday did not disappoint :) We had over 30 people stuffed in our house, eating, laughing, and catching up. Plus we watched Avengers after dinner. What could be better than that? After everyone left I again stayed up way too late chatting with Tom and Caitlin about life, school, and wedding plans. Their wedding is set for the end of July, and I absolutely cannot wait.

Saturday, after some morning shoe shopping with my mom, we all headed up to Buffalo for the wedding. Though there was some stress/frustration about organization (or lack thereof) by the venue, it all worked out in the end.  I hadn't gotten to spend a ton of time with Angela during her engagement, but before the ceremony Jess, Alissa and I got to steal a minute alone with her in the bride room to snap a picture and pray together.

The room for the ceremony/reception was gorgeous, and the ceremony was beautiful. Once the couple had been announced and the first kiss was over, we heard... bagpipes? Yes, indeed. A kilted man playing bagpipes was walking in the door. Apparently the groom loves bagpipes and has always wanted bagpipes played for him, so Angela and her mom surprised him by hiring someone to play them for the recessional. It was pretty sweet :)

Then... it was party time :) The food was great, the bar was open, and the dance floor was packed. This is the only point of the weekend I actually took pictures, so here are a few.

Me & my handsome husband.

We clean up nice :)

All 6 of us!

My girls <3

 Grandkids +

 

Me & the Bride!

Unfortunately the night had to end. We drove back to Fredonia, ate some pizza and played Dutch Blitz with Tom & Cait, and then went to bed. Sunday was lost in the 10-hour drive back, but the weekend was definitely worth it. It's always sad to leave, but it was nice to get back to Durham and know that, though we had just left one home, we had returned to another one.

Monday, Monday

And here we are, at the beginning of another week.
Remembering how sick I felt last Monday, though, I'm not going to complain about this Monday, because other than a lingering cough, I feel much better.

This past weekend included:

- Going out for Italian with some neighbors on Friday night. I don't often get excited about Italian, because the only Italian I really crave is Nana's spaghetti, but dinner was delicious and our neighbors are fun and it was very nice.

- Saturday and Sunday I spent several hours helping out a family in town for a wedding. There were about 65 of them, and they were Orthodox Jews. Basically I spent my time in a hotel room that had been transformed into food central. The mother of the groom who hired me went to Costco and bought enough to feed a small country, but as Friday-Saturday night was the Sabbath, they needed some help, so I opened a lot of containers, turned on lights, and cleaned up. Surprisingly it was really fun. I like being there to help people be less stressed so they can enjoy time with family. And in addition to being paid for that time, we got a ton of leftover snack food, so Drew and I will eat well this week.

- In between working on Saturday, Drew and I stopped in at Duke Hospital to meet our dear friends' new baby girl! Ms. Isla Rowan Lee Baker was born on Friday night, and she is precious.

[Drew holding little Isla, and her Dad, Adam]

- Saturday night I had a bunch of Duke Lutheran gals over to bake and watch movies. It was super fun. Tangled and How to Train Your Dragon are both excellent movies that you should watch. As soon as possible. Plus two of the girls made a raspberry & strawberry pie (with crust from scratch), I made a pumpkin pie on graham cracker crust (per Drew's request), and we made these lemon bars. Holy crap. So bad for you. So extremely delicious.

- Sunday I woke up way too early to go back to the hotel and continue helping out. So when I got back, I took a shower and promptly fell asleep :P After waking up and hanging with Drew for awhile, I then went out and laid in the sun since it was almost 80 degrees. Living in the South is awesome. The day ended with Duke Lutheran's worship (you should totes check out Drew's sermon. It was legit), and watching the Emmy's.

All in all, I'll call it a success. Plus, there's so much to look forward to in the near future! How I Met Your Mother premieres tonight (!), I just got some great new books from a friend, and now it's only 10 days until Drew, Stan and I head up to New York for my cousin's wedding. Most excellent.

[Another great JJ Heller song you should listen to]

[Pinterest] Weekend Adventures

Mondays are lame.
Being sick on a Monday makes it even more lame.


In short, I hope your Monday was better than mine :)

Despite the super lame Monday, this weekend was pretty great.
Drew and I took Stanley out to the Eno River on Friday. It was pretty great. Stan is hilarious in the water, enjoying himself until it gets a little deeper than he was expecting, at which point he leaps and bounds every which way until he finds his way to higher ground.

[grainy cell phone picture of my two boys at the river]

Saturday was lazy. Went to Buffalo Wild Wings and watched the OSU game with Drew. 

Then it was baking time :)

I had to help with dinner for Duke Lutherans this weekend, so of course I volunteered to do the desserts.

I made these cookies [from here]. Brown butter chocolate chip cookies with nutella in the middle.

Yep, they were as good as they sound. Do yourself a favor and go make them. Now.

And I made two of these cakes [from here]. I put chocolate chips in one of them, just for good measure. It was also a hit.

Oh Pinterest, how I love thee.

Oh, and to continue my Pinterest kick, I made a version of these for some friends tonight. 

I heard they were well received also.

So, if you're looking something to brighten up your Monday, I would recommend any of these. But especially the cookies. Seriously. Make them now, thank me later :)