plants update!

remember my baby plants that i told you about awhile ago? i was so proud that they were actually sprouting roots! well friends, i am here to tell you that either i have a green thumb i never knew about...or these are the easiest plants to grow ever. check out their roots now!

today as a reward for being such great plants, i cleaned the vases and gave them new water. what a productive friday afternoon :)

lots to celebrate!

i apologize for being a big time blogging slacker - the past few weeks have just been crazy, but they're settling back into a normal rhythm so it's time for some updates!

first, alex has moved into the condo along with all of his and my belongings! this has made for several days worth of work packing, cleaning, unpacking, sorting, and throwing away, but it's starting to come together. we are loving the 15 minute drive between us now, and we're getting to see each other nearly every day. it is awesome.

second, stephanie, my very best friend from high school, got married on saturday! the week was full with her bachelorette party thursday, the rehearsal and dinner on friday, and the ceremony saturday. a few highlights:

• the look on stephanie's face when trent (her husband) told her friday night about his family's brunch at 8:30 sunday morning...needless to say, i think she convinced him to bail on that, haha
• the opportunity to see where she and trent are moving - it's a tiny 1 bedroom apartment in the city (as in 500 sq ft or less) with 1 closet, but it's just steps from the lake and they've done some cute decorating to make it feel cozy
• getting to open her ceremony in prayer and ask God's blessing on their marriage along with her family and friends, such an honor
• listening as they each gave their vows, stephanie in tears, trent handing her kleenex...it was beautiful
• clapping as they kissed as man and wife...like 4 separate times :)
• dancing the night away with alex as we pondered our own wedding just a few short months away...

it was such a great week and all of the busy-ness was well worth it in the end!

PS - i was going to spell "busy-ness" "business", but that's the same as the regular business...odd and confusing.

AT: stereomood

i can't claim credit for finding this - i snagged it from Olympia - but Stereomood is awesome! you can pick from a variety of "moods" and it'll pull up a playlist for you. it's totally handy for boring times at work or at home or at a party or whenever...very cool.

hilarious video describing contemporary worship services

my brother sent me the link to this video and i literally laughed out loud as i watched it. if you've ever been to a contemporary worship service (as you probably all have), i think you'll definitely appreciate it :)

busy weekend!

alex and i just finished up a crazy weekend, so here are the highlights to fill you all in :)

bought a house - well a condo anyways :) that's right folks, we closed on friday, got our keys, and we are officially home owners. we love the place and we're so excited to start moving things in, which will happen gradually over the next few weeks, until alex moves in for good at the end of the month.

visited my old grammar school - from 3rd through 8th grade i went to a little grammar school that i just loved. i had wonderful teachers, good friends, and tons of amazing memories. well, the school has recently finished construction on a brand new building (yay!), which means it was time to say goodbye to the old building (sad). so saturday, alex and i went to the farewell event for alumni, wandered around the school reminiscing, and chatted with over half of my teachers. it was so fun, and really meaningful.

saw scott's final freshman 15 show - saturday night we trekked to northwestern for scott's final a cappella performance with his group, freshman 15. after 4 years, it's hard to believe it's coming to an end, but the group did a great job, and scott had two awesome solos - jon mclaughlin's "indiana" and michael buble's "just haven't met you yet". personally, i think he had the best two songs of the show and it reminded me of what an amazing performer he is! i was a very proud big sister that night :)

had a bridal shower - another very fun, really great event where we saw lots of wonderful friends and got some amazing gifts! our neighbors hosted, and they were simply incredible - delicious food, adorable handmade favors, and elegant decorations. some gift highlights included a wii fit, a keurig coffee maker, several sets of our dishes, a yellow stand mixer, and an original watercolor painting of the inside of Century Memorial Chapel where we will be married (from my mom). i have to say, i felt quite loved!

entertained lots of out of town guests - including 3 aunts, 2 uncles, and three cousins. it was busy, but again, very full of love. i was so grateful to everyone for making the trip to chicago for the shower/my brother's show. i gotta say, we've got a pretty great family.

cast your vote!

my boss is a part of a group called the House Republican Economic Recovery Working Group (long title, i know) and they've launched a new initiative called You Cut. You Cut encourages the public to vote on what spending cuts they'd like to see enacted in DC. every week there will be five choices, and the winner will be put to a vote on the House floor the following week. even if you don't agree with the policies or don't want to vote, i think it's still a cool use of technology to gather public opinion in a new way. if you do want to vote or want to learn more about it, check it out here. Virginia's own Eric Cantor is spear-heading the project.

AT: poor English translations

a coworker posted this as an away message and it made me laugh out loud - nothing like a few botched translations to brighten up an otherwise typical thursday :)