natalie's baby shower

on sunday, august 16th, my coworker brandy and i hosted a baby shower for our friend (and coworker) natalie. natalie is due on october 5th, and we thoroughly enjoyed showering her with cute girly clothes, gifts and necessities for baby kendall! the food was great, the company was awesome and everyone had a great time. and everyone learned a very valuable lesson about me...don't ever challange me to a game of "don't say baby!"
congrats, natalie! we can't wait to meet your little girl!


brandy is excited about the shower


the guest of honor


time for gifts!


me, brandy, natalie


robin shows us how to model the measuring tape for the belly size game


jo models in a different way


opening presents!


natalie, the what-a-burger queen. i joked her kiddo would come out "orange and white striped"


winner of the "don't say baby" game, you steal other people's safety pins when they say baby, i had 12, everyone else ended up with 1 or 2. take that, brandy! (she was worried i wasn't really playing along!)

texas and ohio

for those who haven't heard, matt has gotten some part-time work...yay! unfortunately, it's in ohio which means he's having to go without me because of my job here and the house, etc. he left on the 8th at 3:10pm to drive the approximately 17 hours and 1100+ miles to urbana, ohio. his mother and step-father have been gracious enough to offer him their guest room while he's teaching so we don't have to pay two rent/mortgage payments during this already difficult ordeal. thanks!
although we knew this was coming, yesterday was an especially difficult day for us. i think we both kept pushing the thought of being apart to the back of our minds, and when it was finally time to say goodbye, i pretty much did a break down. there are so many reasons not to be sad, but it's still so difficult for me to know that my husband will be gone for so long without me. we will have to live in two separate households and miss all the breakfasts, goodnight kisses and funny lexi moments we usually share on a daily basis. after i broke down again when matt drove away, i headed to sarah & ray's to enjoy their company before spending part of the evening with mom & dad. between visits i made it a point to do things around the house to distract me. mom was kind enough to invite me over again at night to bake some cookies, and i've been speaking to matt about every 3 hours or so on the phone to check his progress on the trip. it was a saturday, so i should be a work, but i didn't think that being on the verge of tears for the first part (or any part) of my shift was a very good way to try to take care of others. i told them i'd come in sunday instead. one day down...

before his departure, though, my parents were kind enough to host a going-away party for matt so he could see the family before he left. the menu? beer & pizza, and of course, apple pie. all of matt's favorites. we had a really great time, and when we got home we tackled the very sad task of loading all of matt's things into his car. please keep us in your prayers while we live in two states!

matt's going away party

a goodbye

my very good friend crystal is on her way to CRNA school. it seems that just the other day we were talking about how that was "two whole years away" and now, she and rich have sold their house, secured an apartment in washington, DC and have made all the preparations for her to leave on the 10th of august. rich is going to stay in this area until a job opens up for him there :(
originally there was a surprise going away party planned for her, but when the primary coordinator (another nursing school friend, kandice) couldn't shake the illness she'd been fighting all week, the party turned into a small dinner with just the kings, the wrights and the sheffields. we decided to head to on the border for dinner and drinks, and enjoyed the delicious cake that melissa had ordered. after that, we went to jay & melissa's for more drinks and music. it was loads of fun, and a nearly perfect evening. and while i wish her well, and know that she will do great in school, it was a very bittersweet evening -- seeing my good friends from nursing school and knowing that it is probably the last time we will all get the chance to spend time like that together. it was a light-hearted evening until the goodbyes came, and so did the tears.

good luck, crystal! i miss you already!

matt, me & rich


crys & mel


jay, playing bartender




learning to swing dance




rich shows matt how to dance (how cute!)


relaxing on the couch