Gone Dancing

Performance today with Arrive Dance Company at the Taste of St. Louis

I will leave you all with a great quote for the day:

Have a good day!

Ending the Week on a High Note

This has been a long week and boy am I glad it is Friday.  Finding out I have to have my wisdom teeth pulled out was definitely not fun, but I have had some pain off and on for awhile so I will be glad when it is done.  Then the day I spent fighting with our insurance company was fun too, but I am thankful to have insurance.

However I am choosing to end this week on a high note friends.  Bill and I called our adoption specialist this week and it really lifted our spirits.  There is usually not much she can tell us because there is not much to say until we are chosen for a match.  This time though, along with saying we are still being shown the average amount of times as other waiting families, she said she has been hearing great comments about our profile.  She said she doesn't always get feedback, but she has heard from some birth mothers that they like our profile and we seem like we are an active couple and would be good parents.  These mothers could be anywhere in their adoption process though so they may or may not be at the point of making a decision yet.  When you don't hear anything for 6 months it was music to our ears to hear that at least some are viewing and responding in a good way to our profile.

And to top it off this place opened this week right by our house:  

I love this place!  I don't know if it is the chicken, the variety of dipping sauces, or the friendly service you don't find too often anymore.  I even tried to be vegetarian for about a week and then this place opened near us.  Now that there is one just around the corner this could be bad.

...or good...it all depends on how you look at it :)

  

Will we hit 2.99/gallon?

Gas prices have definitely been up and down for the last several months but never quite as low as they have been.  In the last couple weeks we have been holding pretty steady in the 3.20's-3.30's so when I saw it hit 3.19 I was floored.  I asked Bill if he thought it would go down any more or if they were just teasing us before it sky rocketed again.  He thought for sure that was the lowest it would get.  Well since then, it has dropped to 3.17, then 3.14, and even 3.12.  So when I saw it at 3.09 yesterday I just had to take a picture.  I couldn't believe my eyes.  Keep going! I want to see it hit below three dollars baby!

Why I Love Him

I was having a rough day yesterday and ended up calling my hubby a couple times during the day to make me laugh.  He can always help me put a smile on my face.  I just was not up to going to work that evening as I just didn't think I could focus on Pilates.  But when I got there these flowers were waiting for me with a note that said "I hope your day gets better, have some good classes".  

That is why I love him!  

Target Trip

This week there are some good bargains at Tar-Jay, especially if you like Kashi items.  They have their Kashi items Buy 5 Get 1 Free this week.  And when you stack coupons on top of that it was definitely time to stock up.  I was very happy with this because I want to save money but I also want to make sure we are still eating healthy too.  Here is what I scored:

4 Kashi meals, 2 boxes of crackers, 1 box of cookies, 1 box of pita chips, 3 boxes of granola bars, 1 bottle of glass cleaner, 2 hand soaps, 1 can of shaving cream, 1 can of hairspray, box of Schick disposable razors, 7-count Zyrtec, and Advil.

The total got close to $60 when the cashier first rang everything up, but after coupons (which today I had one for every item I purchased) my total with tax was $30.98!

You can find the coupons for Kashi granola bars, cereals and snack items on the Target Coupon Page. You can also print these coupons here:
$.75/1 Kashi Frozen Entree or Pizza 
$1/3 Kashi GoLean Bars, Single Serve or Multi-packs


Thanks to Clippin with Carie for always helping me find great deals!

Fun with Friends and Family (Part 2)

After my visit with friends in IN, I headed back to MO where my mom and sister's family arrived the night before for a fun labor day weekend with Bill and I.  The drive back wasn't bad and I gained an hour so I was home by noon.  It was too hot and humid to do anything outdoors that day so we suggested the Science Center.  It was nice because this was something my sister, brother-in-law, and nieces had never done in any of their previous visits.  They had lots of fun hands-on things to do for the girls.  Their favorite was building the arch.

Then on Sunday we went to Busch Stadium for a Cards game.  We are all really Cubs fans, but enjoy watching baseball in general.  Most of the day was overcast and the temp had dropped dramatically.  It was fine with us.  We were happy we were not sweltering in the sun like yesterday would have been.

Bill and I love having visitors.  It is hard to live away from our families so we cherish the quality time we get to have when they are here.  In fact we have three more weekends of visitors coming up in Sept/Oct. I have often told Bill it would be fun to own and run a bed and breakfast- welcome to our Inn!

Remembering

I know I was due to give you Part 2 of my friends and family week, but when I went to schedule my post for Sunday I just had to postpone it.  Today I am remembering those whose lives were forever changed on 9-11.

Most of us probably remember just where we were and what we were doing that awful day.  I was a senior in college and on my way to attend class that morning.  I heard on the radio that a plane had hit the World Trade Center.  It didn't even phase me yet because I thought I must have heard wrong or there was some weird program.  As I entered the building, it was eerily quiet as the only sound that could be heard throughout the halls were the news reporters coming from every classroom TV.  It was at that moment that I realized that what I had heard on the radio was real and it wasn't just an accident.  No one was teaching so I joined some students in the next classroom I passed and sat down.  People came and went, but no one said a word.  I just remember everyone staring at the screen in complete disbelief.  When I returned to my apartment I called my family and talked to everyone to tell them I loved them.  

 I pray for those whose lives were lost that day.  I pray for all those who have to go on living without their loved ones because of such an evil act.  I pray that Jesus reaches the hearts of those who want to hurt innocent people.

Where were you and what were you doing on September 11?

Fun with Friends and Family (Part 1)

Well I am back...from my trip and back to my blog.  It has been a fun week and as I promised I have some pics to share with you.  I started out my trek to Indiana and met up with a college professor and her husband.  They continue to be very good friends to both Bill and I and it has been a few years since I had seen them last.  We had a very nice dinner and I was able to share with them the news of our adoption in person.  I was so bummed though that I forgot to use my camera that evening to take a picture of us.  It was nice being near Ball State campus again and it flooded my mind with great memories.

Then I traveled to northern Indiana to visit my dear friend Heather and her family.  She was my roommate for the first two years in college (Woody-Shales 532 to be exact!)  We went potluck and to this day I feel so lucky to have been matched up with her.  We were told they never put two people together with the same major, but I still remember the first call I made to her where we discovered we were both dance majors.  We share a love for dance along with our strong love for God, family, and friends.  I love her sweet personality and genuinely kind heart.

Moving in to the dorms

Senior Year

Our recent visit

We stood up at each other's weddings and now Heather and her husband Ryan have two adorable little boys.  I brought some of my scrapbooks with me and we had a great time looking through old pictures and reminiscing about our college days.  We chatted about everything and anything that night and when we looked at the clock it was 3am!

We think it is funny that
these are actually "in"now

After a little sleep I headed to visit my wonderful friend Nikki and her family.  We met our first year in college but Nikki was also my roommate junior and senior year where we lived in the on campus apartments.  Nikki and I love to be a little crazy together and I just love her fun spirit.  She is such a loyal friend and I am so lucky to know her.  She would do anything for me including washing my hair to get the blood out after I cracked open my head and had to have 8 staples.  (It may sound like that had to do with one of our crazy moments but actually I fainted and fell straight back- me and fainting is a whole other post)  But seriously I don't know what I would have done without her that day.

Senior Year

Our recent visit

We stood up at each other's weddings and now Nikki and her husband Eric have a little boy and girl.  We spent the evening doing a little shopping and then sat down to enjoy a nice sangria.  I was glad to spend time with her but it was way too short as always.


What I love most about these girls is that no matter how much time and distance may come between us we pick up right where we left off.  Maybe that is why it is hard to believe that next spring will be 10 years since we graduated!

I headed back to St. Louis on Sat because my mom, sister and her family all came to visit for Labor Day weekend.  It was a busy week of visiting and having visitors but I loved every minute.  Check back for Part 2!

On the road

I am currently on a trip to IN to visit some friends.  It has been a long time and I am so glad to finally have a chance to see them.  I love that I still keep in touch with my college room mates.  They stood up at our wedding and have been there for me through so much since then too.

I will also get to see a professor that I still keep in touch with and her husband.  They were wonderful to me back then and I love that they are still a part of my life.  When studying dance in college, classes were usually small and instructors went by their first names.  So that, along with the many hours we spent with instructors in class, rehearsals, the theatre etc., it was not unusual to become really good friends.

See you again soon with a post about my trip!