november so far

we've had some great weekends in november, and it's not even thanksgiving yet! we went to atlanta for the vt game (we won't talk about that too much) and got to meet up with some of the yorks- here's me with our sweet friend blakely and her precious boys, ashton & collin. (please ignore the beer sign behind us. i think the photographer- aka christopher- must not have noticed!) blakely also has another boy on the way, due two days before our girl! her husband wes had to work, so he couldn't join us for lunch. we love hanging out with them and wish we could see them more often! i hope we will be as great parents as they are!! the rest of the weekend, i had a mini-reunion with three of my best friends from middle school: (left to right) carrie, tori, & jessie. i'm not exactly sure how it got started, but back then at sleepovers we used to blow kisses at the clock at 11:11 and make a wish. we have been saying for years (about 13 to be exact) that we were going to get together at 11:11 on 11/11/11 at a 7-eleven and make a big wish! well, we nixed the 7-eleven part, but had a great weekend at carrie's house reminiscing (i even dug up our old middle school yearbooks!). we also recently went to a wedding in greenville for some friends from bible study. it was fun to see some of the beautiful venues in our city and enjoy good food, friends, & dancing! i also finished a craft project with my friends liz & lori. it is a frame to display christmas cards. i saw something very similar (for $200) in a pottery barn catalog and knew i could make it for much cheaper (less than $40). i wish i had taken step-by-step pictures, but just try to imagine: 1) i took a plain black wooden frame and spray painted it a metallic champagne. 2) after it dried, i used sandpaper to scrape some of the edges to make it look weathered. thanks to liz for showing me the basics of "antiquing" furniture! 3) i measured & cut picture hanging wire and attached it to the back using a staple gun. 4) i used metal clips to hang the cards- in this case, birth/adoption announcements. i think i may use it year round for other cards & announcements, maybe photos too. but for now i will have a great place to collect all the christmas cards that usually take up counter space!

round trip

this weekend we drove to alabama so i could attend my cousin ashley's bridal tea sunday. on the way down saturday, we got to have lunch with our college friends luke & julia. luke just returned from kosovo after a year of military duty. i know he must be so glad to be reunited with his wife & baby daughter, carrigan! (she was at her grandparents' for the day here.)we went to church on sunday, and my grandmother proceeded to introduce me & christopher [read: show us off] to no less than 20 or so of her friends. keep in mind this is at a church where that probably comprises 20% of the congregation! we went to the bridal tea shortly after church, while the men went to lunch. it's funny, because there was actually no tea involved. it was basically a shower. except it felt more like a reception. our gifts were opened discreetly by the hostesses and displayed on several tables for all to see while everyone mingled and ate. i think this is how things are done in small southern towns. it was fun to meet some of ashley's other bridesmaids that i will be seeing more of over the next two months. here i am with the beautiful bride, her mother (aunt jenny), and our grandmother. grandmother is wearing the same dress that she wore to her & daddy buck's 50th wedding anniversary (they are now going on 63 years!) and to mine & christopher's wedding. on the way back through atlanta, we got to have dinner with our good friends wes & blakely. we enjoyed little szechuan while their sweet boys, ashton & collin played. soon it was their bedtime and ashton was in his little monkey pj's. i asked him if i could have a hug and he said "yeah, sure!" they are both so sweet! it really works out well that many of our friends living in atlanta are in the perfect path for us to meet up with on our way through town. we love greenville, but we do miss our atlanta friends!

saturday fun

we just got a new computer (no vista problems yet, wes and blakely), so i guess that means i'll have to start posting again. actually i'm finally finished with my december to january work marathon, which means i might have some time to post.

work has been going really well lately. i had several big projects that i finished without any issues, and i'm blessed to have a job that i really enjoy. katy was very supportive of my working long hours for those weeks to get the job finished. i'm happy that i'm through with those, and i'm looking forward to a few months of more normal hours and having all my time free on the weekends.

katy and i had a pretty great saturday yesterday. the weather was beautiful, and we started out the day having breakfast at broadway bagels with our new friends blaire and tim. we're enjoying getting to know them and some of the other couples in our sunday school class. we sometimes think that we'll have plenty of time to visit folks out of town, but our schedules are quickly getting filled with greenville events. it's great because it means that all the time greenville is more like home, and we're developing some good friendships and getting plugged into church here. don't worry, there are still many trips to atlanta and elsewhere planned for the future!

after breakfast i ran some errands. it had been over 6 months (but still under 3000 miles) since i had had the oil changed in my car. it's definitely nice to have a 2.5 mile commute when your car is getting old. after errands katy and i drove to outlet malls at gaffney. we were going to exchange some things i had received for christmas, but katy certainly didn't mind the opportunity to go shopping for a little while. she did buy a dress for the upcoming ge prom, which we were happy to find out will be held this year despite the slow economic times.

we finished up the day by going downtown with scott and liz. we went to takosushi, so katy and i had the unusual combination of chicken nachos, lettuce wraps, and sushi rolls. while i've been skeptical about the theme for this combo restaurant, for me, the nachos and sushi combo worked. this beautiful saturday has both of us looking forward to spring big time.

atlanta trip

this weekend we took our first trip back to atlanta since we moved. our friends wes & blakely are having a baby in august, and blakely invited me to a shower sunday afternoon at her aunt's house. chris & i decided to go saturday night, so we got to stay with the yorks and chris & wes got to hang out while blakely & i were at the shower.

we really had a nice weekend. saturday we went to little szechuan (see chris' post from last nov.) & rented a suspense movie. i'm sure we didn't get enough sleep because we stayed up late talking, but it was definitely worth it since we don't get to visit often. (though i have to admit i was struggling not to fall asleep in church sunday morning!) we definitely miss our good friends in atlanta.

the shower was beautiful - wonderful people (i got to see our friend joy) & food (hors d'oeuvres are my favorite). this is only the second baby shower i have been to, but i'm sure in a year or two there will be a wave of babies to follow the wave of weddings last year. shopping at babies r us and seeing blakely open her gifts made me realize how much i don't know about babies! i had no clue there are different sized pacifiers depending on the baby's age, and i'm still not clear on what a swaddling blanket is supposed to do. but the wonderful thing about baby stuff is that it is, first and foremost, cute! as i've told chris before, anything that is a miniature of something else is automatically adorable. case in point, tiny socks & little blue shoes.