It's Raining...Babies?

Well, I have to throw out a big congratulations to my Pennsylvania-Texas friend, Sarah Allen! She and Josh welcomed little Adeline Claire into the world Friday afternoon- 6lbs. 7 oz. She came about two weeks early but didn't want to miss her first labor day, obviously.

Also, my hometown buddy, Linzie Ledford Hebert gave birth yesterday to little Hallie Ann! Congratulations, Jeremy & Linz!

I am in Louisiana getting ready for my bestie's shower tomorrow, ol' Mary Lou-Who. She and I went on a walk today and baby Oswalt just would sometimes swing from side to side as we walked. Crazy!

We both agreed it was strange coming back to our hometowns when nothing is as it was! Where did these buildings come from? And where to does this new road/bridge lead? Who are these people? I thought I knew everyone in this town!

Turns out, life keeps on rolling even after you leave home. Who knew?

Lars and the Real Girl

Just watched:

Lars and the Real Girl with my hubs & the pup.  Folks, it's a great movie.  You need to stick with it through the first 20-25 minutes or so but, once you do, it's so worth it.  You'll laugh, you'll cry, you won't regret it.  Literally, we both cried.  Maybe even all three of us but Powers won't admit it.  

Definitely an original and moving film. 

It was the most perfect rainy evening, so we enjoyed the movie along with our first bowl of 5-hour, no-peek stew for the year (yes, fall is coming/kinda here already), Texas toast, and a little side caesar salad.  

Crazy, Hazy, Lazy Days of Summer

Remember that episode of Gilmore Girls? Yes? No? It was a good one, mkay.

Sorry I've been a poor blogger lately. This week has been bizay (busy- but wouldn't it be fun to spell it like that? I'm so bizay dude.) and so time slips quickly through my hands like chocolate chip cookie dough disappearing from the refrigerator and before you know it, it's just an empty, limp roll with a spoon in it. Whoops.

Moving on, in latest and greatest news, Adam had a test today, I have girls' group tonight at my house, and Powers had a bowel movement this morning.

That's what's happening with us.

Hope y'all are having a rockin' last week in August. I am gearing up to head to home, sweet home Louisiana this weekend- Woot Woot! I am going to receive my fill of saweeeet tea, spicy food, and small town chatter. Also, going to throw a baby shower for my besty in the westy (Mary Lou, that's you!) at my mama's house.

Adam & Powers will, sadly, be staying here and dreaming of soaring hot temperatures and really spicy foods. They will also be fly fishing and enjoying a much quieter, dance-free home.

And now for some encouragement:

Magnify the LORD with me; let us exalt his name together.
I sought the LORD, who answered me, delivered me from all my fears.
Look to God that you may be radiant with joy and your faces may not blush for shame.
In my misfortune I called, the LORD heard and saved me from all distress.
The angel of the LORD, who encamps with them, delivers all who fear God.
Learn to savor how good the LORD is; happy are those who take refuge in him.
Fear the LORD, you holy ones; nothing is lacking to those who fear him.
The powerful grow poor and hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.

Psalm 34

Hey Guys!

Let's go to the lake!




(Picture taken during the thaw back in April- we normally don't have large quantities of mud in our backyard.)

Tiny Onesies

Last weekend, I attended a baby shower for my sweet Texas-come-Pennsylvania friend, Sarah. 

She is on the right, Lauren (on the left) is in our girls' group and also "with child."  She's about 17 weeks.    

So, here we are, our girls' group (minus Erica- she had to leave).  As usual, Bethany and I are ruining the picture for the group.  But, hey- that's the way we role and one of the great things about being in the back row!

This shower was really enjoyable.  We had lots of games but it was fun and not awkward because it was a small group and we all knew each other well.  

Oh, I didn't have a gift bag so I put my gift in a Wegman's bag so that Addy can learn how to reduce her waste early on in life.  Sure.   I also included a picture of my great future invention, the breast pump backpack.  See, when I went to Sarah's house, I was looking at the box that her breast pump came in and I was like, "Oooh, so you put on this backpack and you hook up the pumps and it pumps your milk into the insulated backpack!  Cool."  And Sarah was like, "No, Camille.  The backpack is used to carry the breast pump around."  

But, I started thinking about it and I think it's a pretty awesome invention!   You could do housework while you pump.  Obviously, it'd have to have a rechargeable battery like for a laptop but the bag would be insulated and you could just pump into your backpack.  

Oh, so here's the game where we tried to guess how big Sarah's stomach is.  I grossly overestimated.  Sorry, Sarah.  

We also played a game where you write out the baby's name and then try and make as many words as you can out of the letters. 

We also played a game where you started out with 5 rubber bands around your wrist and you can't say "baby", something else I can't remember, or touch your hair with your hand.  If someone else catches you doing one of those, they can bust you and steal a rubber band. 

It became quiet competitive.

Oh, this is a sweet tutu that Brooke got Addy.  I would totally wear that.

This is us with our NAPLEX board review books.  We used those to write on for our game.  Oh, the other game that we played was one where a hostess holds up all these different baby items and you have to guess the price of them and write it down.  Whoever has the smallest difference at the end, wins!

I learned that baby stuff ain't cheap, friends.  

Sarah with the two hostesses.  

Enjoying some cake.  


And...a serious picture of all of us gals.  Good times, good times.  Go baby!

I Like Smelly Socks

Powers' new thing is socks.



 

He finds socks in the hamper or in Adam's shoes (post workout) and brings them into the room where Adam & I are hanging out.  Then he bucks around like the bull-riding machine.  

Strange dog. 

I'm afraid I have some bad news, Mrs. Zinkley.  

We're going to have to go ahead and remove that ear.

Arse Over Elbow

He's arse over elbow in love.

Did you know that's how they say "Head over Heels" in charming ol' England?

Anyways, thought of it because I am currently reading:

Yeppers, my sweet mother-in-law sent it my way and it's a pretty good book. Now, before you go ASSuming what it's about... (hint: It's not a Juno story) I'll fill you in. It's kinda like the storyline from that Kate Hudson movie, "Raising Helen" except with a few plot/character changes. Basically, the main character, Sophie, is very career-ambitious and works for an event-planning agency and is hoping to fill the CEO's shoes when she retires. She doesn't have much of a personal life, doesn't like big risks, is very good at what she does.

THEN, her best friend from high school (wild, artsy, flower-child, free-spirit type) dies and Sophie had previously been named the godmother and guardian for her two children if anything should happen to the best friend (Carrie) and Carrie's husband, who it turns out ran away a couple of years ago but Carrie never told anyone.

SOOOO, Sophie is now temporarily hosting Izzy (3 years old) and Bella (6 years old) and learning how this affects her promotion, her job, her love life, her seeming control on life. It's actually a pretty decent book and takes place in jolly old England and really makes you want to live in a little cottage and have a spot of tea before you take a walk to the Eifel Tower... wait, wrong country. Big Ben? Okay, there we go.

So, point being....it's no Harry Potter (but what is?) but I recommend it. It's a well-written book.

Although, I haven't finished it...so I may change my mind. I'll keep you posted.

Other books that I've read lately:


disturbing... little weird... don't recommend. About 250 pages too long.

She is the a stinking amazing author.  I've read several of her books and they are GOOD but make you think, for sure.  She is good at intertwining all these peoples' lives and perspectives and always has interesting legal text, too.  

This one was crazy and I don't know how I felt in the end... very open-ended.  But she is such a talented writer.  

Good novel.   Not a happy-feel-good.  Some very sad parts.  Suffice it to say that it's a historical fiction set in Canaan, the error of Jacob, when women went into the Red Tent during their visit from...errr...Aunt Flo.  

(Although while they were in the red tent, they just hung out, talked, ate sweet cakes, and drank wine... that sounds like a fun girls' weekend to me.  No?)

So, book reviews.  Good times.  

Chorizo

Last night, I was trying to make this new Rachel Ray pasta dish that called for sweet italian sausage. Well, when I went to the grocery store, they didn't have any sweet italian sausage, not even at the deli counter. So, I used a pack of chorizo instead. I remembered that my brother uses it for egg dishes and to make awesome burritoes. Then, last night, I realized that I didn't buy ground chorizo but, instead, bought the kind that is like a huge pepperoni. You could just slice off a piece and put it on a cracker. Sooo, whoops.
...I promise I'll blog about something more exciting soon.

Goodbye Weekend.

Good-bye Weekend,

Let's go ter tha fishin' hole...

Hello Monday,

Sighhhhhhh

Yowza.

Wow, those were some responses to the college haunts topic. Thanks for responding! Just to clarify a few things:

1. I wasn't referring to bars/pubs/etc. I think Erie already has it's fair share of them

2. I totally agree about supporting local business/local flavor. BUT, there are some staples that go along with most college towns (see previous post) and, to me, those are very familiar and very special. They remind me of college (See: cramming in the library, sitting on front porches late at night, riding your bike over crispy leaves to class).

3. I am okay if Chipotle is not "authentically mexican" because it's "authentically awesome. Hey-o!



But I do appreciate all the comments and thoughts. After consulting my soul in a cool, quiet hour I've decided that it's time to move on.

Anyone out there see the interview that Tiki Barber did with Bela Caroli (Legendary Gymnastics Couch) about the Chinese Gymnasts? He was ranting and swaying and laughing all at once and I was like, "Oh, Bela. I have no idea what you're saying but you're hilarious."

Embrace the Younguns

Sometimes I think that Erie should embrace it's collegetown-ness.  There are three undergraduate schools here not even including Edinboro!  The largest medical school in the nation is here plus a pharmacy school and numerous technical colleges, institutes, and Tony & Guy!  Embrace it, Erie.  You're a college town.

Then...where is this:

Nothing says college student like a gigantic burrito (No offense, Moe's...it's just not the same.)

or this:

And I'm not just saying that because it's named after me


or even this!

I feel like every town with 25,000 people has a Chili's!


What's more college-y than pancakes at 3 a.m. while pulling an all-nighter? Eh? Eh?

In conclusion, I like Erie (I do!) but for a city with so many students, it doesn't feel very collegetowny.  You'd at least think there'd be more of a college district, you know?

Thoughts?  Feelings?

Even if you're not a cat person, you will, quite possibly, wet your pants a time or two viewing this website.

A few examples:

Oh, but before we go any further, you have to go ahead an imagine what the "voice" is like in the pictures... you'll notice that the writing is not "Grammatically correct" (overrated) so go ahead and rehearse your best cartoonish/animal/alien/Bullwinkle-on-some-occasions voice before you read the rest of these...

That's it. Okay.

Best of all, you can submit pictures of your animals with captions. Sooo, I'll be thinking hard of one for Powers.

What?! I don't have any children- I have to put my maternal urgings towards someone...

Oh, don't judge me... he likes it! Right, Powers?

Signed,

Crazy Old Cat Lady Jennings

Teeny Tiny Hiccups

This is Sarah, my first friend that I ever met in Erie, with her husband Josh, last summer at the Greek Festival.

Here we (part of girls' group) are reaching out & touching baby Addy.

The other night, at our friend Elizabeth's Mary Kary party, Addy had the hiccups. I put my hand on Sarah's stomach and sure enough, there was the rhythmic spasm of the hiccups over and over. I thought, that must be the coolest/most reassuring feeling in the world. To have this kiddo growing inside of you and then to have a little thing like hiccups remind you that she's doing fine in there and you're going to have an actual baby in a few weeks. Whoa...

Lar-Bear!

This is Larry (and Adam's white thigh).   Larry was a freshman at Baylor when Adam & I were seniors.  We were in the same section at our church and Larry took to calling Adam his "shepherd" and laughing at everything Adam said.  (This is one of Adam's favorite things about Larry- he feels really funny!)

See below picture.

Larry is a smart kid, too.  He was driving across the country to start LAW SCHOOL at Boston College.  So he stopped in little ol' Erie to spend the night on the way.  We expected Larry on Friday afternoon but he called, instead, on Thursday to say that he was gonna come on down.  He got stuck in Rush Hour traffic and so he wasn't going to arrive in Erie until midnight-ish.  So, being the grandma & gramps that we are, we had to decide what to do.  I'm more of the "wait up until they come" school but Adam suggested that we go to bed at ten and take a power nap until midnight so that we would be ready to visit & stay up since Larry wouldn't be here for long. 

So, we did!  I still am not sure that was the wisest road but, regardless, we had a good time visiting with Larry into the wee hours of the night (what happened to my late night capacity?  Those hours were totally normal in college!  I guess they went away with the 8 a.m. start to a work day and no nap opportunities?)  Anywhoos, the next day, after class, Adam & Larry went to lunch and to see our great lake and then Larry drove on to his new Boston life. 

It's so good to see someone from home.  Sometimes it feels like a lifetime ago that we lived in our little rent house in Texas and had a life amongst these people but then it's so seamless to be with those friends & seems so natural that we should be heading back any second now to have some custard at Katie's.  

So, thanks for coming little Larry lamb.  We miss you.  You & Dez better come visit us soon! 

Guilty Pleasures

My friend, Brooke, tagged me. The deal is that, once tagged, you have to reveal five of your favorite guilty pleasure songs.

So here, revealing my uncoolness, we go:

More Than A Feeling by Boston.
See my Mary Ann Walking awaaaay,aaaay,aaaaay cue face-melting guitar solo. I luuuv it. You know what? This isn't a guilty pleasure! It's just plain good. Moving on:






Never Gonna Get It by En Vogue
Oh, when I purchased this album in 6th grade, my life became so much more soulful. Had I ever been in a relationship? No. Did I still understand the angst of a hip woman gettin' run around on by her man? Oh, heck yes. My favorite part is when they break it down: Never gonna get it, never gonna get it.. NEEEVER gonna get it, never gonna get it.






Don't Stop Believin' by Journey.
It's awesome. Enough Said.






Come On Over by Christina Aguilera
Oh, don't judge me! It's guilty pleasures for crying out loud.
I actually bought the SINGLE of this at Walmart back in the day which also included the spanish version. Ven Conmigo! Ven Conmigo, bebe....






Motownphilly by Boys To Men. Love this song. Will unabashedly break out into M.C. Hammer like/shuffle dance when I hear it.

Those are my guilty pleasures! Honorable Mention are:
1. That song by Jesse McCartney about tellin' him you found somebody who could do it better
2. Step by Step New Kids On the Block
3. Hold On by Wilson Phillips
4 Spiderwebs by No Doubt (although I'm really not embarassed about that one)
5. Yessss. I'm 25 and I like that "Burnin' Up" song by the Jonas Brothers. Yikes. Yowza. I'm ashamed.

I tag YOU, friends.

Diaper Cakes

Tonight, my friend Bethany & I went to a baby shower for Julie! We know Julie and her husband, Jim, through our small group from church. They are expecting their first baby boy on September 21st. The shower was at Jim's mom's home. The baby shower was fun with delicious food (7 layer dip, a zucchini/squash-stuffing casserole, and other delicioso things). But our FAVORITE activity was discovered when we found ol' Jimbo's senior picture.


And since we are officially in 13 years old, we decided to let Jim's 18-year-old self come back for some modeling opportunities.


Kids, remember, never leave your adolescent pictures out for display.  I have a horrifying picture of me wearing zebra-print pants up in my parents' house to prove it! 

Bethany working the ol' tree lean with Jim!



And, finally, bracing himself against his sweet baby boy...


We love you Jim & Julie. Happy baby!

P.S. I love you Bethany for doing silly stuff and giggling with me!

HELLO!!!

There are just some phrases that just stick with you. Like when Robin Williams pops us in Mrs. Doubtfire with pie on his/her face and says "Heh-ROOOOOO" (Hello). I must say that three times a day.

P.S. New poll below the ad. Just so you know, the majority of you here readers said that, if you could live in any time period, you would live in the Shh-bop time period (50's). I'm so surprised the Dark Ages didn't win. Interesting.

Routines & Such

Now that Adam has begun school again, we're settling back into our old routines. During the summer, while I was working and Adam was studying (a little) and fly fishing ( a lot!), he was also the domestic engineer. He cooked supper, he kept the house, he did the laundry.

Now, it was a nice break for me, I won't lie. Did he do everything the way that I would have? Oh, heck no. But, he did it. Along the way, he learned how to scrub a toilet and to make the meanest quesadilla this side of the Rio Grande. (No, seriously, it's flippin' awesome. I'll see if he'll let me put the recipe on here.) Aside from the delicioso food, surprisingly, it was hard for me ! I weirdly missed maintaining the house the way that I like to maintain it. Before the summer break, I was sick of cooking, sick of looking for recipes. But yesterday, I dug and found some recipes and then drew up my menu for the week and hit the grocery store with Adam. I was excited to cook & meal plan again.


What's happening to me? When did I become the sort of woman that likes to keep up her home and feed her hard-workin' husband? I'm not sure but it's nice to be nestling back into our old routine. Adam waking up at 5 a.m to get his study on. Me unloading the dishwasher with a hot cup of coffee. Weirdly, I like it.

Mostly, though, I'm excited to get back into the routine of seeing my girls again. Everyone is so crazy during the summer and I definitely look forward to my sanity checkpointers a.k.a. girls' group every Thursday. And seeing this gal.




And this soon to be mama:

Sarah back in April (baby is a lot bigger now!)


Here are my thoughts on summer: You know, come spring, you're just tired of it. You're tired of running around, things that you used to enjoy become obligations, you're ready to just be outside soaking up the sun, rid of responsibility. Summer gives you a taste of that. You get a breather and you become re-envisioned for the activities of daily life. Why I like to keep my house welcoming or why I take a night to meet with these friends each week. Summer's like this fleeting whiff of childhood but it gives value and purpose to the rest of the year, real life.

Plus, Powers is ready for cooler temps...