too much for prose...

So I must resort to a list.
1. Camp at Timber Wolf Lake with our middle school friends was incredible! They are fun, funny, thoughtful, mature, childish, entertaining and encouraging. God was so faithful throughout our week - we had great conversations, beautiful weather, and lots of opportunities to stretch and grow in faith!!! (pictures to come!)
2. Katie and Brian got married this weekend, and we made it back from camp in time to catch some of their reception (including their first dance - which was part lovely slow dance, and part hilarious "evolution of dance" choreography). They seemed SO happy and relaxed - I like that.
3. We ate pizza with Brian & Katie on Sunday night (the celebrities of the weekend had time to picnic on our living room floor!!), and our friend Kelsey joined us not only for pizza Sunday night, but pancakes that morning too (she crashed at our place after the wedding on Saturday). It was fun to see so many friends.
4. I went to the doctor this morning and got to hear Baby's heartbeat again - the fetal doppler is an incredibly tiny machine! For a few seconds, I could hear my heartbeat and the baby's together - it was so cool. The rest of the appointment took about 7 minutes - all is good! Tomorrow I start my 13th week... time already seems to be slipping right by!
5. Mark and I are still making progress through the 7th Harry Potter book. Since I read it out loud, it can take 30-45 minutes per chapter. Slow but steady.
6. I can no longer comfortably wear my normal pants. I think it may be time for an upgrade. People told me I wouldn't show until 4 months or so, especially since this is baby numero uno. I guess I'm a little ahead of the curve. It's okay by me - at this point, I'm excited to sport a "baby bump." Ask me again in 3 or 4 months. :)
7. My energy is back up, and I feel much more "normal." I'm gonna try to take advantage while it lasts.
8. God is good. I read James 2 this morning, and really appreciated the connection between faith and deeds. It's easy to see the parallel after a week at camp.

absences: past and future

Mark and I had the pleasure of watching our good friend Brooks commit his life to his now-wife Abbey, this weekend. We traveled to Columbus, OH for rehearsal dinner, bachelor party, wedding, reception, and brunch with the newlyweds. It was a big weekend - full of funny people, laughter, and emotions. It's awfully cool to watch two people promise to love each other - to know that they will not always succeed at keeping each and every promise... but that if they are both sincere, humble, and graceful - God will honor their commitment.
We drove from Columbus to Plymouth (Mark's brother's new home) and visited with his family there. I got to meet our new nephew, Brody (only 8 days old!) and be shocked at how big our other 2 nephews have gotten. They really do grow SO fast!
Mark and I were able to *finally* read a few chapters of the new Harry Potter book last night - but tomorrow we leave for camp with our middle school friends, and won't be able to finish the book until we get back. I'm okay with waiting - I'm just terrified that someone will give something away in the meantime. No spoilers, people!
We'll spend Tuesday through Saturday at camp (great fun!) and head straight to a wedding when we get back Saturday night (we'll be pretty late, but at least we can show up and give a little support and love!)
I think I might sleep all day Sunday.
Or read Harry Potter to Mark.

end of an era?

Tonight is the last night our friend Brooks will be living at our house. He moved in with us last July and spent the year student-teaching at a nearby high school (chemistry - yikes!). He's getting married this Saturday, heading off on his honeymoon, then moving to Atlanta, Georgia to become a big-time high school teacher and (football?baseball?both?) coach. It's going to be a pretty big, life-changing couple of weeks for our good friend.
Tonight, in honor of our last night together as a trio - we'll watch hours and hours of TV. Sometime during the fall, we got started watching Scrubs on DVD - and wound up buying the first 4 seasons (all that was out at the time). We always watch them together. It's the rule.
Last week, Brooks brought home the newly-released 5th season, and we absolutely MUST finish the season tonight.
So we'll probably share a meal, and spend the evening in good company, laughing at a pretty darn funny show. I think it will be a good "last night" for us.
But we're going to miss him.

journey into the unknown

I'd like to introduce you to the person that's currently growing inside me. I don't know much about this person yet - no idea if it's a boy or a girl (or even if it's just one person). I'm not sure what he/she will look like, or what kinds of hobbies will be pursued, or what funny things he/she will say someday to crack the daddy and I up.
I do know that this is a true blessing from God; the giver of all good and perfect gifts. I know that it humbles me to my very core to think that I'm being entrusted, along with Mark, to provide care, love, and godly instruction for this precious child of the King. I know that this baby will be ridiculously loved.
And I know I'm thrilled. Baby B is due to join us in the middle of February. I'm sure the next seven months will fly by and drag along, all at the same time!

burley bakery

I think I've developed a new hobby.
Tonight, Jayne (a co-worker and friend) is coming over to help bake some goodies for a party we're having at work tomorrow (another co-worker's wife just had a baby, and we want to welcome her to our clan!)
We're making an apple-blueberry pie, and chocolate cake from scratch. I'm excited - even though it means heating up the oven (and the house) - I'm really enjoying spending time in the kitchen. And making things from scratch.
Maybe I'm nesting.

bed and breakfast

Mark and I celebrated our 5th anniversary on Friday with a weekend trip up to Ludington. We stayed at a log cabin B&B that was beautifully decorated and made me want to gut my house and put logs on the walls. We ate a lot of good food, walked along the water and through the state park, saw a movie, picked cherries, went to bed early, and generally enjoyed ourselves very much. It was so nice to get away for a weekend and just be in each other's company. We've been very blessed these five years.
Yesterday I made two cherry pies with the cherries we hand-picked over the weekend, and Mark and Brooks were happy to help me taste-test them last night (with a little vanilla ice cream, of course). Brooks is getting married in less than two weeks, and moving to the Atlanta area shortly after. We'll miss him a lot - more than we realize right now, I think. He surprised us with the 5th season of Scrubs on DVD last night (we've watched the first 4 seasons together this year), and we spent a couple happy hours watching some very funny episodes; again - just enjoying the company.
It was a good weekend.

small towns and big projects

The town Mark and I live in is home to approximately 7000 people. It has a lovely downtown area, complete with ice cream parlor, hair salons, a book shop, little restaurants, the local bank... and in the center of the square - a courthouse, complete with bell/clock tower. We l-o-v-e it.
Last night, we sat on the curb at the corner of Jefferson and Ash Streets, and watched the 4th of July parade.
We were pelted with candy, sprayed with hoses from the fire engines (somehow doesn't seem quite legal to me....), and we tried (but failed) to count the tractors that went by. It was a fantastic, fun, small-town parade - full of pride and a sense of community.
The parade was followed with ice cream, laughs, and watching the fireworks with some of our soon-to-be-in-high-school friends. Very fun (although fireworks that start after 10:00pm make Katie sleepy the next morning).
As for big projects - we've started (and I use the term "we" pretty loosely here) to finish our basement. We'll be adding a bedroom and a half-bath, and leaving the other side of the basement open for storage and flex-space. Hard to believe our little house will be a daunting, 4-bedroom, 2.5 bath masterpiece soon (ha!) Anyway - some of the walls are framed in already, and lumber, nails and sawdust abound. I'm really excited to see the finished result.