This and That

Man, I am a terrible blogger. I'm good at plenty of other things, though. Like eating cookies... yeah, I am pretty much the best at that- I'll throw down a challenge any time. I think I'll spend some time this next month adding posts: "Things I never blogged about." Like wedding pictures (Yes, that was more than a year ago, but we just got them a few weeks ago.... don't get me started) and the rest of our Europe trip last April... oh, and the incredible first few months of my son's life... in no certain order. :)

It's been a really fun transition into a family of three with Grady's arrival in our lives. The hardest transition of my life so far, but still wonderful. Being a parent is HARD- and I only have one child! I constantly marvel at the amazing parents around me and have found a new sense of gratitude for my own parents... you learn a lot in just a few months.

Grady is such a delight. We are always laughing with him- I had no idea 3-month-olds could have so much personality! He seems intent on being the center of attention and is very good at being LOUD. Is that a boy thing?

And here are just few random items about what's been happening in this crazy life of mine:

1. We are headed towards another half-marathon in a couple months. I kind of wish we could do the full, but it's hard enough to log any miles at all with a new baby.... he can't run quite fast enough yet to keep up.

2. I am figuring out this part-time work thing- it's tricky, but I am SO thankful to still be in ministry... such a blessing that it worked out for us!

3. I successfully fed our family for 11 days on 20 bucks. I didn't exactly need to, it was just to see if I could- and I made the rule all food had to be good (no Ramen noodles... not that those aren't good, it just would have been an un-nutritious cop-out.) The challenge was a success, but I spent so much time in the kitchen I decided it was worth taking some more expensive short cuts to balance the whole cost/time issue... it was fun being creative, though. (Disclaimer: I did use some frozen items from the freezer and spent exactly $19.99 on top of that.) Also, I don't know that I'll ever go back to store-bought bread... making it is so easy and it tastes tons better.

4. Brad and I got a Wii and I haven't laughed so hard in a LOOONG time as I did watching Brad hoola hoop on the wii fit. Hilarious. You gotta come over and see.

5. I read a book that I thought would give me ideas on how to cook different kinds of healthy grains in lots of recipes... instead it depressed me since the whole first part of the book describes how the meat industry is basically killing the planet... I'd much rather be an uninformed, mindless comsumer who contributes to the problem.

6. I left Grady overnight for the first time last weekend! Brad did amazing and he described the experience to be a lot like a 24-hour adventure race. I assured him that I totally believed him.

More to come... hopefully sooner than 3 months...