Cause I'm a Woman...W-O-M-A-N

This week, I had the pleasure of seeing some of my favorite female friends. And what a wonderful week it has been! Mandy was in town with her husband, Adam. We got to share some brief, yet precious, moments with them! My heart has had a Mandy-shaped hole in it since she left; so, it was filled a little bit while she was here.

(This is Mandy at one of her wedding showers, but I thought she deserved a picture!)

Jess, Rachel, and I took an adventurous trip "Up North" over a break we all had from school. They both teach elementary grades....but you can't tell, right?

The hotel was highly decorated for Halloween. So, we all made friends:

Jess

Rachel

Me

A glimpse at the shenanigans we enjoyed while shopping:

The trip was altogether too much fun. We laughed too much, ate too much, shopped too much, and hot-tubbed just enough.

Well, I had about 2 hours between getting back from that trip to go to another friend's house. One of my former college roommates, Tara, had us over to make applesauce and have dinner! Katie, Molly, Tara, and I all got married around the same time 2 years ago. In that aspect, we're in very similar places in life (which is always encouraging to share).

Tara, teaching us how easy applesauce is to make!

Molly and Katie take over

Molly and I

Thank you, Tara, for being a wonderful hostess.
Thanks to Maria, Ahna, and Mom for helping me put together my Halloween costume (more on that in a later post).
Thanks to all the woman in my life (those who I saw this week and those I didn't) for being wonderful and making my life so happy.

I've Been a Lame Blogger!

I'm sorry for my absence! I have no good excuse. But I'm back and would like to update you on the big events of the last couple months.

At the end of July, I attended my friend Holly's wedding. We've been friends since our AWANA days. She had a beautiful wedding and was a glowing bride. Lots of high school friends were there and it was great to catch up. We've all changed so much...and yet, so little. Gerrit couldn't be there. :( And I vow never to go to another wedding without him. I got hit on more at the reception than I ever did when I was single. No thanks!

In August, Gerrit and I made a quick trip to my hometown. My oldest niece, Aubrey, made the decision to be baptized and we wanted to witness it! The church was planning the annual baptism while Aubrey was visiting "Grandma and Grandpa" and she knew she wanted to do it. We all rushed to be there. The pastor performed the rest of the baptisms, but my dad got to be the one to "dunk" Aubrey.
Also in August, I went to my friend, Brittany's, commissioning service. She just left a few days ago to go to Ukraine. She'll be there for four years helping to build churches. She's a dear friend and she will be dearly missed. So, as you read this, pray for her as she settles into her life there. School started last month. I changed elementary schools, but I'm still an EBD para. I've already gotten sick once. Kids are so germy! I had a fever for 4 days! Gerrit was having a boys weekend with his dad. I was supposed to go to a baby shower and to his hometown, but instead I was dying alone on the living room couch. I had to recruit my friend, Jess, to take me to Urgent Care. They took blood to determine that I did NOT have H1N1...or anything else they could do anything for.

That's all for now. I'm sorry for being such a loser blogger! I've missed you!