Rain, Not Snow.

It's raining. I'm not complaining, just mentioning a fact. A friend at work and I were talking today about the ratio of rain to snow in inches and realized if all this rain was snow, we could potentially have 30 inches of snow. That thought made me happy, until my manager commented that we would both still have to go to work since we're within walking distance. Oh yeah:).

But it is raining, not snowing. For some reason, that makes me think of lists, but I'm not sure why. So here's a list:

• I am happy to be at home with my husband, although he is in the other room diligently working on his Bible Institute course.
• I'm grateful for a cozy, little apartment to call home.
• We had some friends over after church on Wednesday and we enjoyed the fellowship so much (hopefully not enough to keep Amanda and her family up though!).
• I'm terribly excited about going to the Bloomsburg Fair! My family and I have gone for the past 20+ years (give or take a few years!) and I knew it was something I wanted to introduce to Nat:o). We were planning on going today until we saw the weather report that used words like "heavy rains" and "accumulating" and "2-3 inches" all within the same sentence. That was enough to make us change our plans until Saturday when it's supposed to be sunny and 67 degrees. Bring on the funnel cake and sausage sandwich!
• Bath and Body Works has come out with some incredible candle scents that have made me happy! This one is my absolute favorite! (And my husband loves it too:o).

In short, it has been a delicious fall evening that's just about to get better... we're going to have ice cream:o).

Purging.

I was up early (that's code for 8 AM... which is early for me!) anticipating a walk with a friend, but a cancellation phone call changed my plans for the morning. The one challenge I have found since being married is maintaining a balance between home and work. I do work part-time as well as babysit often enough to turn it into a side job (without pay:D), so I try to make sure I stay on top of grocery shopping, laundry, and cleaning. With some unexpected extra time this morning before work, I decided my challenge would be to clean our cute little home.

I always want to run in twenty directions at one time and started 4 or 5 projects before I finally settled on one :o). I tackled the kitchen first, which was extremely easy, since I'm OCD about keeping my kitchen clean! The bedroom was next, which was almost just as easy. Dust manages to get into all sorts of places!

I hit a wall when I entered the living room though. Approximately 11 boxes were in the middle of the room and while that added an interesting flair to the decorating style, I decided they weren't going to become permanent fixtures:o).

I'm doing a yard sale tomorrow morning with my brother and sister-in-law and I chose to be ruthless in purging our house of stuff. I know we just got married and couldn't possibly have accumulated stuff, but in reality we have. Most of it was a carry-over from when I lived at my parents, so I don't feel bad at all at selling stuff I'm just not using anymore. Nat contributed a couple of items too, and yet our goal isn't to make money ~ it's to get rid of the stuff! Goodwill is going to be the last stop if they don't sell at the yard sale.

The amazing thing about our apartment is we have the space for everything, and I have fallen in love with a closet that runs down one wall of the apartment (by the way, pictures are coming of our little home... promise!). But just because we have the space doesn't mean we should fill that space:o). Our future goal is being missionaries to Thailand and last time I checked, we're allowed to each take 2 suitcases (50 pounds each) and a carry-on. There's no use in holding things too tightly.... it's either purge now or purge later!

Friends.

Because Becky asked if I was going to do this, I'm posting this picture... just for you, Becky!

Nat and I had Becky and her brother, Nina, her sister, and brothers over tonight and we had so much fun!!! Several of these dear friends were kind enough to videotape our wedding and then put together a beautiful DVD too, so we decided it would be fun to have a little get-together... and it only took us 5 weeks to actually all get together;o).

Our evening was filled with food, volleyball, some more food, and then a fun game called, "The New Yorker." Nat and I have played it with both of our families and it's a ton of fun, so we figured this would be a great group to play it with ~ we were right!

We are so thankful for good friends in our lives!

Nat and I both enjoy having people over and being hospitable, so I'm sure this won't be the last party we have at our snug little apartment;o).

Remnants.

The little patter of footsteps were heard in my house yesterday, along with the happy giggles and cheeky grins that two dearly loved kids bring with them;). After they left, I found some remnants of their visit and it just made me smile!

My visitors for the day were my 3-year-old nephew and 1-year-old niece. Both of them helped me make these brownies... can't you tell with the concentrated crumb dump at the top of the brownies?!? ;)

My nephew was also a big helper with lunch and the dishes. He was very excited to tell Uncle Nat that he spread the mustard on Uncle Nat's sandwich! Then as I washed the dishes, he rinsed off all the bubbles and put the dishes in the drainer. Cute!

Of course we had lots of play time:). Between playing with toys, hide-n-seek in the closet, going down the slide at the playground, and tickle time, we had a blast!

Nat was able to join in on a little bit of the fun when he came home for lunch.... I have yet to see a child refuse the awe and intrigue of Nat's iphone!

I just love these little kiddos to pieces!

Cooking With Betty.

I was given approximately 12 cookbook/recipe holders for my bridal shower and I must admit my first thought was, "oh boy, here we go!" I like to cook, but it's not like I churn out gourmet meals or anything like that. Plus my dad has always been a basic meat-potatoes kind of man, so I never deviated from that routine (hint: it always helps to keep the man happy with the kinds of food he likes!). I learned that hint the hard way after trying new dishes on my dad, who promptly looked for the old and familiar dish;o).

With the turning of the page into wedded bliss, I knew I had one very big advantage on my side: Nat loves all sorts of food (with the exception of scrapple and liver and onions). So I determined to start putting all those cookbooks to good use!

Of course it helps to have them handy, although I'm not entirely satisfied with their resting place:

It also helps to have cute Longaberger baskets nearby to compliment the look and feel of the kitchen:o).

I must say my favorite cookbook so far is the old tried-and-true one of Betty Crocker. Any recipe I've looked up in that red book I have tweaked, but that's the luxury of being the cook:o). So far I have only burned one meal (go here to read that story!), and overall I'm happy with what I've been able to do.

Gourmet? No.

Happy husband? Most definitely!

Family Time!

Ever since I can remember, we've done a smallish family reunion on my mom's side every summer. Numbers have always fluctuated because of other obligations, and this past Saturday was no exception. Obligations called others away so we really had a small group, but it's more cozy that way:-).

One thing that is always special to me is having my grandfather's cousin Ruth come to the family gathering. I have such happy memories of living with my grandfather for four years in the early 90's before he passed away and Ruth is one remaining connection I have to my grandfather.

We gathered at my mom's house on Saturday and saw these sweet kiddos:

(Ethan and Adrianne with Uncle Tom!)

(Like I said, really small gathering! One day all the relatives who live in far-off states will actually be able to make it home for a reunion;o)

( Ethan absolutely loves Uncle Nat and playing with him!)

This was the first family function at my mom's house since I've gotten married, so it was a little strange to be one of the people leaving after the event was over! Just another little adjustment that comes with the happy bliss of being so joyfully married!

Visitors.

When I came out of the shower this morning, I saw this on our bed:

No, Nat hasn't gained a sudden affection for stuffed animals:o). We've been watching my 4-year-old nephew for the past two days, and he decided that Cleo, Rhino, Neville, and Elmo needed a new place to call home after spending two nights on the blow-up air mattress!

By the way, Nat gave Rhino to my nephew as a birthday gift last year and became an instant hit with my nephew! Nat's got such a way about him and knows how to win the hearts of protective nephews :o).

At last check, these four guys are still residing on our bed, along with a certain 4-year-old. They go home tonight, at least that's the plan. I've been informed several times over that some little guy just loves our apartment and is planning on staying until Sunday. Nice try, but you gotta return home, kiddo!