Dear Rain,

I am sitting here on the couch, staring out the window, drying off, because I just ran through you twice: once to get in my car to leave work and once more when I got home.  You actually managed to fill up my right ear in just those two quick sprints.  You are talented!

I have a bone to pick with you.  One reason I am on my couch is because I am waiting for you to head on out of town because tonight is date night and I am really hungry.  I'm just waiting for you to finish your visit so I can go get some Mexican with the hubs.  It is date night after all. 

                                                                           Sincerely,
                                                                              Super Soggy Sarah Ellen

P.S.-I hope you are not raining at Camryn's house because it is her birthday, and who wants a gloomy birthday?  Not a cute little five-year-old like her.

iRead

I really do love to read.  If I had to choose between books and TV, it would not be a difficult choice.  I think I have mentioned this before, but I am reading between 2 and 5 books at any one time.  It allows me to choose something to read based on my "book mood".  For instance...

Book Mood 1: Lovey dovey and fun
I am reading Bed of Roses by Nora Roberts because it is about 4 friends who are wedding planners (something I have always wanted to dabble in) and it involves a great love story.  I LOVE a good love story.

Book Mood 2: Self-Improvement
I am also reading Made to Crave by Lysa TerKeust.  Who hasn't struggled with food and weight at some point in their life (or most of your life, like moi)?  Got to love good ole L.T. and, to add to the fun, my church is doing this book as a women's Bible study.

Book Mood 3: Educating myself
Dear Birthmother  by Kathleen Sibler and Phyllis Speedlin is part of my required reading for Bethany, but it is probably something I would have picked up in the library or bookstore just because I am curious. 

Book Mood 4: Bible Study
Jeff and I are reading Rick Warren's Bible Study Methods: Twelve Ways You Can Unlock God's Word together.  We asked our pastor about something we can do as a couple, but that is not couple-y.  I have to say out of all four books I am reading right now, this is topping the list on the one I go to the most.  The problem is that Jeff and I are reading it together so I don't want to read ahead and have to read it again with him.  I already struggle with sharing books (and hymnals, for the record) so rereading something I have already read would drive me nuts because I would just want to get on with the book.

Does anyone else do this? 

The Rundown

I don't like it when I go almost 2 weeks without blogging.  You can bet that when that happens, it is not for lack of blog fodder.  We have been ridiculously busy around here.  So here we go:

1. Emily's 18th birthday.  We celebrated Emily's birthday twice this year.  On Saturday night we went to her favorite restaurant, J. Peter's, with Grayson, Allen, and Kelli.  It was really yummy and worth the wait (Note: Don't try going to J.Peter's on a Friday or Saturday night unless you have had a snack and are prepared to wait.). 

On Sunday night after church, Emily's brother, Andrew, and some friends planned a surprise party for her at her house.  Emily cried upon realizing what was happening (such a tender-hearted young'un), but was soon wearing a big smile as we ate pizza, looked at gifts, and of course, showed everyone how she and I dominate on the The Michael Jackson Experience Wii game.

2. Valentine's Day. We normally don't do anything really special on Valentine's Day.  In fact we could not remember the last time we actually went out on V-day.  Well this year, my best friend from way back, Carolyn, invited us to hang with her and her husband, Paul, this year.  We at dinner at Outback and then got some TCBY.  It was simple, but so fun.  We never have a problem finding a topic of conversation with these two. You know the friends, the ones you can immediately fall back into conversation with even though you haven't seen each other in months.  The best part of the night was trying to take pictures in the parking lot by ourselves. 

 We finally got this shot on our 3rd try with the timer.

 And that's the real us...what a crew.

3. Baby registries.  I started a baby registry online when we were snowed in for an entire week.  I have since then been to 3 different stores trying to figure out what to keep, what to add, and what to delete.  The best part about going to the stores, however, is the goody bag that you get.  The first actual store I went to (so I could actually put hands on all the stuff I had chosen online) was Babies R Us.  You get a little ditty bag, a small pack of wipes, a diaper, and some coupons.  Not bad.

At Buy Buy Baby, however, you get a full-size bottle of lotion (not the largest bottle, but not the travel size), a bib, 2 magazines, a Mam pacifier, lots of coupons, some cream, and a free sample of a wipe that gets rid of germs.  Um, Buy Buy Baby, you just kicked Babies R Us' rear!  And I must say I really like the amount of choices they have and the abundance of help that is never hard to find.

Then there's Target.  You get a ton of free stuff all inside a cute reusable shopping bag.  They probably had the best coupons, although they all expired at the end of February so I had to go ahead and use them.  They did have the best gift of all: a $20 Shutterfly gift card that doesn't expire until June.  So let's all pray that we have a baby before June so I can make a cute little book about him/her with my gift card. 

 Note: I know that 3 registries is absolutely crazy, but I will address that in another post and hopefully get some feedback from you guys.

4. A New Job.  Don't get too excited.  It's not a complete change.  Jeff and I have been talking about how next year would look for us.  Being a public school teacher, I cannot give a 2-week notice when we get the phone call that Little One is here and then bolt.  It has been decided that I will not be teaching full-time next year, whether Little One is here or not.  We have prayed, crunched the numbers, looked at many options, and reached our decision.  In the meantime, I am trying to work as much as possible so I have picked up a part-time job after school 3 days a week.  I am teaching in an afterschool program at our school that is funded through Clemson.  It has made for a super long week this week because of all of the extra evening events we had planned.  However, when that money comes in, it is going straight to the ole savings account so hopefully Jeff and I will be able to buy something decent to eat next year and not have to live on water and Ramen noodles. 

5. Alexis' 18th birthday.  Yes, we had another birthday to celebrate this week.  I, of course, didn't bring my camera because by Tuesday evening I had already work 20+ hours outside of my house (see #4).  Anyhoo, we went to eat at Sumo's and had a great time the big ole fam.  Jeff got some of their sushi, and I even tried a piece.  We decided that we need to double date with Alexis and her boyfriend, Blake, because they both like sushi and Alexis and I could take it or leave it. 

6. Gifts.  Back to Valentine's Day...Let's face it, the only thing Jeff and I really want right now is a baby.  Our gift-giving has become much more toned-down and more practical.  I told Jeff that for Valentine's Day, I really wanted to figure out how to hook our laptop up to our TV (because we watch most programs online) and I wanted to get a wireless keyboard and mouse so we wouldn't have to pull the laptop out all of the time.  Well, if you read the last post, you know we are not on the cutting edge of technology.  We still have an old TV, not a flat screen, so we were not able to do that.  Instead, we each picked out a Wii game and bought another controller.  Anyone who wants to come over and challenge me to a dancing duel, you're on!  

 My game.  Jeff picked out a James Bond game for himself. 

Our electric blue controller

Weekend Recap

The past two weekends have been full of family and fun (which reminds me, I really need to teach my children about alliteration).

Last weekend, my family came over to check out what we have been up to in our house.  They only live a half hour away, but when we gather, it is usually at mom and dad's house.  They had not seen the floors or the nursery or more importantly, the wii. 

[Sidebar: My family (both immediate and extended) are always way behind when it comes to technology, so while the rest of you are eagerly awaiting some new and cooler play thing, we are getting excited about the awesome deal we got on our newfangled play-pretty.] 

While I got dinner together, everyone took turns bowling.  Then mom and dad boxed, while Bekah and I laughed until we couldn't breathe.  I kept having to tell my mom to back up from the television.  Jeff kept telling her to move up (he really wants a flat screen, but again we are not on the cutting edge when it comes to technology).  

 Jeff checking his score

 Dad gettin' his bowl on

 Mom-she is very serious about any game

 Bekah-check out the stance and the wrist with a twist

 Dad boxing-He was really good at it

 Mom during one of her way-to-close-to-the-tv moves

Now on to this weekend...

Jeff had to take a class in Charleston and he called his sister, Carrie, to see if he could stay with her.  I, of course, had to join him.  Carrie was able to get time off from work too and we played together.  I have no pictures of us because we spent the majority of our time discovering and immersing ourselves in the world of children's consignment.  We tried shopping at the outlets, but after seeing those prices at the consignment store, we couldn't even bear to pay sale prices. 

I know what you are saying..."SE, you need to stop buying stuff...SE, everything you bought looks like it is for a boy." Well, I couldn't help it with these prices and you can but a big ole bow on her head and everyone will know she's a girl.  Besides, Uncle Christian (Carrie's husband) can't wait to take Little One out on the land to get all muddy. Whether a little girl or a little boy, Little One needs some outdoor gear.  Which leads us to the pics below...overalls and boots for every age.

 3-6 month overalls and soft boots

 6-9 month overalls and soft boots

 did I mention they were Justin boots??

18-24 month overalls and boots with hard bottoms

The boots were all right around $2.50-$3.50 a pair and the overalls were $0.50 each!  I told Carrie that when we know the gender of Little One, I was putting in a call to her and she was to go forth to the consignment store and shop.