Birthday Girl

Sorry if I misled anyone on the title of this post!

Since moving down here, Matt & I have really learned to appreciate good friends, both old and new. We have been blessed down here with people that we have gotten to know quickly and have treated us well being so far away from family. We have also come to appreciate our good friends back home that have been a big part of our lives -- we miss hanging out with them on a regular basis! (Given, I don't have as much room to talk as Matt since I've made so many trips back to Iowa since being here...)

Anyways, this is a post to celebrate Amber's Birthday! She has been a great friend since college. We have been through a lot together over the years even though we never really lived in the same city. It started out by her "visiting" me at Iowa State when really she just wanted to hang out with Matt's roommate, Ross (now her husband). I don't mind though because we got to know each other pretty fast and became really good friends. That was the beginning of a lot of laughs to come. I dragged Amber to a summer of working at an outdoor Bible camp for kids where we quickly learned she is not the most outdoorsy person :) We had a blast though. We have been through lots of double dates and weddings together, including our own of course!
Another thing I convinced Amber to do was sign up for the San Francisco Marathon last summer. It didn't take long and she went from running 20 minutes tops, to 7 miles no problem. In even less time, she became our pace-setter (I could rarely keep up w/ her).Did I mention that neither of us are runners? At this point in time, I have a hard time imagining being in good enough physical condition that we actually finished our feat, but we did :)

Now, I can't take credit for dragging Amber into the life of pregnancy, but it has been fun going through it together!
We thought we were "huge" back then... Ha! Can you even tell we were pregnant? Anyways, I'm looking forward to a lot more laughs with this girl in the years to come.

Happy Birthday, Amber!

No News.....

Johnni and I have spent the last week and a half or so waiting on our baby to be born. Johnni's "Due Date" was October 3rd according to our doctor, but the little one must be a little shy...imagine that (we actually think the due date should have been the 5th or 6th -- obviously we are all wrong).

We've been spoiled the last week because Johnni's mom came down to help us out while the baby arrives. Even though there's no baby yet, she has still been helping us out by cooking for us, cleaning, and taking care of the dogs. It's been a nice break for both of us -- Deb has been nice to have around!

We did get a chance to catch up with some friends the other night when they joined us for a video conference from Brian and Kate's house. We're always jealous when we learn that we're missing out on their get-togethers...so we were happy when they Skyped us (can Skype be used as a verb like Google?). Our only regret is that we didn't come to the call with anything prepared...don't they look like they're waiting for us to give a class?


And there's a funny thing that happens when you wave at people...they usually wave back!


That's about it here...we're patiently waiting to be able to give more exciting news and to be able to post pictures of our new baby...but it's gonna have to wait at least a little longer! For now, here's what she looks like:

Simple Pleasures

I changed the shower liner yesterday and couldn't believe what a difference the extra $4 I spent on the "heavy duty" liner made. I had been used to the flimsy one attacking me throughout my showers because it was too light to stay in place. I guess some things are worth the extra penny.

Last night was the first time in months that I wore a long sleeve shirt down here. I think it was short-lived, but it sure was refreshing!

I grew up eating french toast but hadn't had it since I had moved away from home. Matt recently started making it again and it's the best! I think our pancake Saturdays might have to turn into french toast Saturdays...